


Tamed

by Oraeliaa



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Incredible Hulk - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-29
Updated: 2013-06-29
Packaged: 2018-10-22 22:57:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 24,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10706898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oraeliaa/pseuds/Oraeliaa
Summary: The hulk is released by anger. What if Bruce found someone who could control that anger and return normality to his life, only to have to run once again to protect her. But now he's stopped running, and is going to take on Loki with all he has. She rescued Bruce, and now she needs rescuing, and he's damn sure he's not leaving her alone this time. Eventual Bruce/OC





	1. Chapter 1

You don't come to the x-men; the x-men come to you.

They watch, and they find you. But sometimes they wait. And in the case of Bruce Banner, they waited.

They waited until their secret weapon was ready.

Until she reached her full potential.

To do what others had failed at.

To subdue the hulk.


	2. Chapter 2

He was angry, and frantic. He had been chased, shot at, prodded and poked; and was exhausted. This was the longest the hulk had been in control; and he wasn't letting go. His large green feet thudded along the tarmac of a confusingly deserted road. It was eerily quiet, he was used to screams; the squeal of brakes and beeping of horns. Gunshot, helicopter blades making their distinctive 'whop whop' above his head.

But there was nothing, as he couldn't hear the gentle quiet breathing coming from hidden lungs on the rooftops around him. The lungs of an experienced team; all putting their hopes in a rather frightened girl.

She'd been recruited for Xavier's collection around a year previously, and had been trained specifically for this battle; for this purpose. It was all she knew. She didn't feel ready; she needed more training. A year wasn't enough.

But it had to be. Xavier was patient, but the hulk wasn't; and his trail of destruction had to end.

They sprung from the rooftops, herding him. Taunting him with their abilities. A hot beam of red to the shoulder; lightning repeatedly hitting the floor behind him to stop him running. Objects flew at him from nowhere, bins cascading rubbish around him and water spraying the air as a hydrant caught him in the back of the head. He shook them all off, and the team could tell if they were here to defeat; not subdue, they'd be massively outnumbered.

She watched from the shadows, her heart pounding in her small chest. Her palms slick as she clenched and unclenched her fists. This wasn't the place for a 15 year old girl; she wanted to be at home, watching a film with a huge tub of ice cream and her friends, not watching the sun set behind an impressive green giant. She'd never wanted any of this! 

With a pounce wolverine pinned him, the hulks loud screams reverberating around the clearing as his feet were nailed to the floor, shocking her out of her longing daydream. Large green hands bounced upon wolverine's rapidly healing form, whose cracked voice called out "c'mon kid! Get your scrawny ass over here!" with a heady mix of anger and desperation. It was like being steamrolled; he knew if he were anything but adamantium his ribs would be snapping like twigs underfoot.

She bounced on the spot and let out a long breath before focusing on her target and running out, the lightning allowing her to pass through; sneaking up behind the Hulks large muscled shoulders. All she had to do was reach him, and she did. She slammed into his back, wrapping her small arms as far as they'd fit around his enormous frame and he twisted, sweeping her off him and throwing her against a park bench. Pain shot up her leg and she groaned,heaving at the sight of the sharp white bone protruding from her leg. Dragging herself forwards with her arms and remaining good leg, desperately trying to ignore the stinging pain of the debris against her flesh, she collapsed down at his feet. Her small hand enclosed around his ankle and he froze, feeling the anger seep from his body into the small girl, who dispersed it out into the air around her. 

Focusing on calm, meditative thoughts, as she had been intensively taught; she pushed calmness into him. Relief came in waves at the sensation of him shrinking in her grip, eventually falling to the ground. She pulled him into a hug, holding him to her chest as she tugged herself up behind him. Unable to focus her abilities she absorbed his sadness, his fear and his anxieties; her eyes glowing, tears streaming down her face; her screams echoing around them. Storm ran forward and attempted to remove her from him; her eyes widening at the sudden rush of emotions she felt as she neared the girl. However it was impossible; she had calmed the beast, returned the man and had to be helped back to the plane; still attached to whom she could never let go.

The hulk was free; and Ellie…Ellie was exhausted.


	3. Chapter 3

She awoke in the clinic, a smiling Xavier beside her in his chair. His eyes were warm, and her voice cracked as she sat up and asked how she had done. "You did well my dear, he's sleeping. I think he'll be sleeping for a while, the poor man must be exhausted" he said, offering her a mug, steam rising from the top. She smiled as she accepted from the tea, sipping and sighing as she rolled her neck. She ached everywhere, and remembered the events from the day before, the sheer amount of anger, sadness and anguish the man had contained and a tear dropped once more.

"It was so sad professor…I couldn't control it, I saw it all, felt it all…it was so horrible" she said softly, her voice raw from screaming.

"I know, we should have anticipated that and trained you further, there was just no time... but we won't allow it to happen again. If it aids you, you should know how much that helped him. I have looked into him before and now, and I doubt he will be so close to turning for a while after the purging. I anticipate that he will awaken feeling better than he has since the accident a year ago"

She smiled and finished her tea, starting on the homework she had missed from the day before. Even when she had been on her first mission she still had to complete her work, a standard all Xavier's residents had to maintain.

The next few days went by quickly. She was visited by friends, all of whom brought gifts and more chocolate than she could ever eat. Her cast had been signed and drawn on, and after a particularly giggle filled trip her toenails were beautifully rainbow coloured. They said her leg was fractured, and she'd probably have scars from where the bone broke the skin. They'd put a metal plate over the bone that would stay there for life.

A voice interrupted her reading "that's a good book". It was male, and sounded dry. She turned towards it and smiled as the normal sized and not so green man sat himself up, wincing. "If I may ask" he continued "where am I?"

"You don't sound worried? Surely you must be waking up in a strange hospital" Ellie asked, cocking her head in confusion.

"Normally yes, but it's not every day I wake up next to teenage girls reading Othello, surrounded by teddies and flowers. It's normally a sign that whoever's here isn't going to attack me" he said, humour in his tone. However his laughter slowed and his face grew serious. "Did I cause that?" he asked, gesturing to her leg.

She didn't say anything; her eyes just became downcast as she looked down at her covered leg.

"I'm sorry, though…how old are you?" he asked

"15, nearly 16 though" she said, smiling up at him.

His face grew angry "why on earth would you be at a battle with the Hulk? You're barely old enough to walk home in the dark!"

The machine next to him beeped rapidly, showing the rise in his heartbeat. She quickly shot out her hand, twisting in the bed to reach further. Her fingers brushed the skin of his arm and she calmed him, using her powers to drain the anger from his body. The monitors beeping slowed and he sagged against the bed, understanding dawning on his face. "So that's why you were there"

She nodded and a voice answered from the doorway "we knew you needed help, needed a safe place to learn control. We knew we couldn't easily defeat you though, and even if we could; that wouldn't really give off the right message." he chuckled, the wheelchair silently ghosting into the room. "So, young Ellie here has been training, specifically to take in as much anger as possible and to replace it with calmness. To return Bruce to the world. She's an empath."

"That explains why I feel better than I have in a long time, how long was I out?"

"A few days, and you're in the schools hospital" Xavier answered.

"School?" Bruce asked, running a hand through his chocolate brown hair.

Ellie smiled over at her co-patient "our school. It's a safe place, for people like…us. Welcome to Xavier's school for the gifted. Welcome home"


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN-
> 
> I wanted to point out to the readers that the romance ISN'T going to occur when Ellie is 15. That's a little creepy; and it's going to occur when she's at least 20; perhaps even later. I wanted them to have history as FRIENDS beforehand, from an entirely none romantic standpoint.

Over the next week Bruce had gotten used to being around noise. His room companion was…chatty to say the least, and it was because of that chattiness, the sociable bubbliness that came so easily to her that he was now struggling with the quiet. He had been discharged, and shown to a wonderfully pleasant room; with cream walls and a large window that cast light around. He couldn't help but think that before this whole experience he would have thought he situation idyllic. He had his own room, a quiet lab of his own to work on a cure for his gamma radiation, and was surrounded by people who both understood him and could put him to sleep the moment he started shifting.

But the quiet was too quiet. He missed the idle chatter over books and films and her fellow students and professors. After a year on the run he didn't realise how much he had gotten used to be alone, and how lonely it really was now he had someone to talk to and truly feel like himself; not like a container for a hulk ready to rip its way out at any second.

And so, he began socialising for the first time in a year, possibly longer. He had gotten so wrapped up in his work that he hadn't just sat as he was now, with a cold beer and another guy.

"So Banner, when are you gonna start joining us in the danger room?" Logan asked, without looking over.

"Danger room? That sounds…inviting"

He shook his head and explained "it's our training room, would you like to learn to fight as Bruce, and not Hulk?"

"I dunno…I try and stay away from violence, that's more, the other guy's terrain"

"you never know, it could help. Plus; you got the kid there if anything goes wrong, she's gonna be back in rotation in a few weeks"

He agreed to think it over, but the idea of learning to fight wasn't exactly his cup of tea. And he couldn't imagine the kid back in there, especially as she was now, sat in a hospital bed in her sushi print pyjamas while he read her sections of a fascinating journal on particle physics. She'd asked him to help with her science homework and once they'd gotten that done she'd seemed so interested that he'd continued until she drifted off; when he took his leave. He felt guilty for her leg, she shouldn't have been in a battle; especially one with the Hulk. Every time he saw her it was a reminder of the danger of his other side; and how he shouldn't become too comfortable in his surroundings; lest he let his guard down too much.

He'd gotten so used to his silence that the small knock at his door made him jump. The door opened a fraction, then the banging began, each opening the door a little more until Ellie hobbled in. her face was a picture of frustration and she blew a loose piece of hair from her face. "its official Bruce, I despise these stupid crutches"  
"You want a hand?" he said, silent laughter creasing his brow  
"Nah I'm good, I'm in now"  
"What can I help you with Ellie?"  
"Logan sent me to grab you for some training"  
"I told him that wasn't me, that's more the other guys thing"  
"Come on old man, you're getting podgy" she smirked, jabbing his tummy with her crutch, and turned towards the door, swinging herself across the room on her crutches. "time for some training!"

The danger room surpassed his expectations, full of lasers and holographic projections. He had never seen such teamwork, and when seeing a large, metal like man that must be colossus throw Jean into a large octopus creature his eyes widened and he stepped away from the window. He remembered Ellie telling him about her own training and promptly left the observation deck of the danger room and went to the opposite door, where she'd said she would be going. The room was full of teenagers, and it took him a while to spot her, doing pull ups in the corner of the room, her friends around her using running and rowing machines. He should't interrupt, he knew it wasn't his place to judge the lifestyle of others; but he had to ask. He slowly approached the girl, trying not to show too much shock at the way her sports bra showed a rather toned 6 pack. He was pretty sure the teenage girls he'd paid a lot of attention to at that age weren't so...toned. And probably couldn't do a pull up. What were they doing here?

"You said you trained for your battle to subdue me?"  
"Yeah of course I did, they wouldn't send me in unprepared Bruce!"  
"You were in that room, being flung around and dodging lasers? Why on earth would you agree to that?"  
"You make it sound like something we don't all do. It's just part of life here... when you display an interest in joining the team, that is-it's not forced on everyone" she laughed. "And it wasnt lazers-we were training against a holographic you, compiled from footage of your previous battles" she gestured to the room around her as she spoke.  
"You're a child Ellie, you shouldn't be learning to fight, its so wrong-look at you, you're doing pull ups with a cast on-that's not normal!" his skin began to tinge, and Ellie quickly focused on his emotions, pulling his anger from him. He looked down at her, sadness in his eyes. "you're too young, you shouldn't have to deal with all this"  
"All of what Bruce?"  
"Me, the hulk, this obscure training regime. You'll never have a normal childhood"  
"Of course not, I'm not a normal teenager, none of us are. My normal childhood was over when my mutation became too much to bear in a normal school environment. If I can help why wouldn't I?"

He left, down to his lab and away from all of this. He couldn't help but feel it was obscure; this place was closer to the creation of super-soldiers than he ever was, and he realised that in this new world of powered beings, this was a reality he would have to get used to


	5. Chapter 5

Bruce stayed away from the danger room after that. It didn't interest him, though he did enjoy the gym, and exercising. The professor started working with him on relaxation techniques, and Ellie threw herself back into her studies and physio the moment her cast was off. He loved having a sense of normality in his life; something that had been sorely lacking the last year; though the irony that the normality came from a place filled with the least normal people he'd ever met was not lost on him. Ellie started seeing some boy, he could talk to animals or something and she wittered about him semi constantly.

A few weeks passed, which turned into months. He began teaching science, and helping Ellie and her friend Kitty as often as they could persuade him; often with bribes of cupcakes and pizza. Kitty was fascinated by science and technology, and was absorbing his lessons like a sponge; he knew she would be an intellectual force to be reckoned with. Ellie however had a harder time, and enjoyed her books more; and her baking. He wondered how much time she spent in training to not gain the weight all those baked goods should have given her. He didn't want to think about it-the mental image of the small girl leaping around in the danger room was too much to bear.

He had been there almost a year when an army vehicle stopped at the gates, and demanded entry. Bruce was wandering through the kitchens at the time when the intercom sounded, a bagel held in his mouth while he hands were occupied with coffee and a banana. He'd recognise that voice anywhere, and the image on the screens was only further confirmation of his worst nightmare. He didn't register the smash of the porcelain mug against the wooden floor or the confused look from his fellow teachers as he darted from the room, down to his lab. He took all of his blood samples, all of his research and threw it into the sink, watching as the water turned pink and swirled away, along with a year's hard research.

He scrawled a note to Ellie, explaining why he had to leave so suddenly, and apologising. He'd valued her friendship enormously; and he would contact her when he could, though not to expect it any time soon. He picked up a Polaroid she'd left on his desk for him; an image of the two of them, she'd pulled up his nose and her own into pig like faces, and he was looking at her as if she was mad. He'd had many friends in the past; ones who's intellect rivalled his own, who's repartee was witty and engaging, and yet this girl, this teenage girl was the one who had managed to really affect him; in an inexplicable way he knew he would miss her friendship.

He slid the photograph into his battered wallet, next to the crumpled one of Betty. He sighed as he looked upon her, it was a beautiful photo; he'd taken it when she wasn't paying attention one morning, over her coffee and morning crossword. He pushed the thought from his mind, he couldn't linger on sad memories now; the time for that would come later; when he was alone, lonely and full of grief over possibly lost friends.

He ran. he knew it was too good to be true; General Ross had found him again.


	6. Chapter 6

Bruce awoke in a sweat. His dreams recently had been dominated by his accident, in a way he had grown unused to at the mansion, where contact with the ever cheerful Ellie had reduced them to almost naught. He'd not realised how much her powers affected his mood, keeping the sadness at the loss of the woman he loved at bay. He wondered how much of his grief she had dispelled; how much she was aware of. he though falsely that he'd been moving on…he couldn't have been more wrong.

He wished they were dreams, figments of an overactive imagination; but he knew otherwise. General Ross's blooded hand reaching out to him; the sight of the woman he loved lying in that cold; hard hospital bed, bruised all down one side of her face. He remembered his confidence before the experiment ,the way he'd winked to ease her nerves. That hospital room was the last time he'd seen her; before her father pushed him away, and then began the chase of a lifetime.

He wiped the moisture from his brow, groaning as he set about getting ready for his day. The heat and the humidity took some getting used to; the way his clothes stuck to him; even if all he was in was a simple white tank-top and shorts. He gulped down a large tumbler of water, padding his way back to his bedroom to slide on a clean blue shirt. He could say honestly that he preferred the heat of Brazil to the cold of Russia, and he loved the anonymity here, unlike the bustle of Vancouver

The two images were pinned to his mirror, the one of Elizabeth smoothed out though daily touching; as he moved his thumb across the curve of her jaw. He remembered the softness of her skin; the way the sun hit her hair, causing it to glow caramel. He shook his head; he had to attempt to forget her; to focus on building a new life. And right now, to get to work on time.

He had run to Brazil, and gotten a job at a bottling plant. His boss always joked that he was too intelligent to be paid the way he was but that was how he liked it, less of a paper trail to be tracked by. He had taken the professors psychically whispered advice when he reached here, and had tracked down a particular Brazilian jujitsu expert who was sympathetic to his cause. It had been 5 blissful months since his last episode and 4 since he had settled in Brazil, the longest he had managed since leaving the mansion, 4 years ago.

He had limited contact with the outside world, save for the occasional package that came to him through transient mutants. He couldn't help but wonder how far Xavier's reach was within the mutant community, how powerful the unassuming old man really was. They were always from Ellie, and they came normally once a year; fat with letters. He had watched her grow up from afar, heard of her breakups and makeups; her haircuts, her initiation to the x-men. She told him about her decision to go to university back in her home town so she could see her family, and about how the x-men were preparing for war with a man called 'Magneto'.

She told him of Xaviers death, and how many of them had the X-men symbol tattooed on their forearms to commemorate him. He watched her grow up from afar. He had seen her 17th, 18th and 19th birthday through those letters, and sent late presents back with them all; even though these were usually small money in the currency of where he usually was, along with letters and pressed flowers; often in the form of a pocket guide of the area they were collected. He knew they often got there months after the event if they ever got there at all, but he always had them waiting, waiting for the courier who would get a small meal and a bed for the night for their troubles. He had her 20th ready, and was just awaiting the courier to arrive; which could be anytime this year. He had managed to buy her a bead bracelet at one of the markets, thanks to his now steady job.

He always considered doing the same for Betty, but it was too risky. Her father was the one chasing him; and plus, he knew she would have moved on by now. He hoped she had; that she was happy, not moping around as he was, unable to release his love for the woman. There was a small part of him however; that hoped she suffered as much as he; and for that he was deeply ashamed.

More ashamed than he was of his alter-ego

A whine broke his train of thought; and he looked down at his new companion, a greying dog who's mournful eyes and whining voice told him he was hungry. He cooked, and settled down in front of his new favourite show; sesame street. He remembered the boys laughing at the girls at the mansion when they'd force cartoons on during tea; teasing them for watching kid's shows. Now here he was; even older and doing the same. But he needed to learn the language; to get by in a new country.

He hoped it could be a new home; just as he did wherever he settled. But he knew he shouldn't get his hopes too high. They'd find him. They always did.


	7. Chapter 7

A drop. A drop and his heart stopped. A single drop and he knew, he had to be more careful; he had to stop the plant or another poor soul could have been poisoned like him. He had no idea what his blood would do to another human being. In the best case scenario it would be radiation poisoning; in the worst…another him running around.

Relief washed through him when it was wiped off the bottling conveyor belt. He had cut himself on a simple piece of machinery; he had to be more careful. For himself, his happiness and everyone around; for their safety. He sealed the cut with superglue, keeping it closed the best he could.

But little did he know that wasn't the only splatter of blood; that a small dribble down the neck of a bottle would begin a chain of events that wouldn't just affect his life here; but his future altogether.

He went about his day oblivious; oblivious to the danger ahead; only seeing the positives in his future. He'd acquired an Amazonian plant; one he was convinced was the answer, the cure to the hulk and his ticket out of Brazil and into his old life.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ellie's bobble snapped, causing her long blonde hair to cascade in front of her face. She rolled her eyes and pushed it behind her ears, plaiting it quickly to at least attempt to keep it out of her face. She felt the man clutched between her thighs start to slide to the ground and she twisted herself from his neck, running from his unconscious form to flip onto her hands and roundhouse kick another. The team were like a well-oiled machine; making quick work of the battle.

They were facing hypnotised goons, and she rolled behind a burning car as jubilee bombed the doors to the building. The explosion made the ground shake underneath them, and scattered debris around the road. They ran in, storm taking the lead to short circuit the drones ahead before they could fire their lasers. Ellie slid to the floor, feeling downwards for a familiar trace of emotion, which she would recognise as his. She looked up at kitty "five floors down; basement level. There's people in the corridors below us that don't feel hostile"  
"can you feel for any guards?" this voice was Cajun; and she shook her head  
"sorry gambit, I can't tell who's who unless I know them well, I just know there's people; happy, sad, angry, frightened. My guess is the bored but confident ones could be guards, but I have no way to know the truth…"  
"s'alright Cherie, Kit, wanna take a look?"

The brunette nodded, and slid her head through the thick concrete below them. Muffled words became clearer as she came back through "coasts clear, I'll faze us down" this pattern continued until the third floor, when as she slid her torso through, it was pulled from them by an unseen force.

"Gambit, Jubilee, quick!" Ellie screamed, slamming her hands into the concrete and allowing herself to be pulled from the spot by a gentle but firm hand on her shoulder. Three glowing playing cards sliced into the concrete of the floor, followed by a glowing ball; and the small group turned on the spot, crouching down with their hands over their ears as the ground glowed purple and the concrete crumbled.

They jumped through; landing crouched on the floor; before rising up into an attack stance. In the room was a huge man in a purple and yellow outfit, and a woman in a long purple cape, her white hair blowing behind her. Storm looked shocked "Stonewall? Why are you here…I thought you'd turned yourself in?"  
His voice was gruff "I did…but I was taken out by Phantazia; and the brotherhood"

Phantazia looked the storm wielder in the eye; "he's mine now; and I think I'll have this one too" referring to Kitty; who struggled in her arms; unable to use her powers while in Phantazia's grip. Stonewall ran forward; and they leaped into action; firing explosives at his muscular body. "Stop!" called storm "your physical attacks won't damage him!". He smirked and ran at them; causing them to roll and dodge from his attacks. The ground cracked where he hit it, and started to calcify as he absorbed the elemental substance of the earth in the concrete. They turned on Phantazia, but were unable to attack while she used Kitty as a shield. They looked to Ellie, who in the field of battle was known as "psyche". Her eyes glowed; and the others cringed as they felt tendrils of fear branch out from her. The two ahead of her shuddered, and tears began to stream from Kitty's wise open eyes. Psyche couldn't control who the fear went to when they were in such close proximity; and hoped she could remove whatever horrors Kitty was feeling after the deed was done.

They fell to the ground. It had taken a while of training to be able to wrap her head around intentionally gripping fear into the hearts of others, but it was necessary for the use of her abilities in combat. She could be as good as she liked at martial arts and gymnastics, but unless she learnt to use her abilities in combat she felt she would never be as strong as the others; able to protect herself and her friends to the best of her abilities.

Kitty crawled towards them, sobs echoing. Ellie ran forwards and dragged her out, cutting off the fear and after pushing kitty behind her; changed it to a feeling of sleep. The two in front of them passed out; unable to resist the call of her emotional demands.

She turned to her friend, enveloping her in an embrace and filled her with happiness, draining the fear from her body as rapidly as she could without sending her into shock. They continued their travels downwards, and ran to the cages containing their friends. The explosive members of the group began blasting the locks. Speed was of the essence; as she couldn't lull them into sleep from here; so it was only a matter of time till they awoke.

They escaped; destroyed the blood and hair samples that had been taken before they could be used and fazed from the building to where the jet was waiting for them, Ellie carrying a shaking Kitty out on her arm; the soft skin of Nightcrawler brushing against her hands as he helped from the other side.


	8. Chapter 8

She felt ashamed. Using her powers to hurt didn't come easy to her; and the idea that she had traumatised her best friend was unbearable. They'd always been together through everything; the changing of Kitty's codename from Sprite to Shadowcat, Ellie leaving for home and returning in the summers; through breakups and young loves and her complete crash after Bruce left. And now Kitty was silent, ignoring her as if she were just another face in the passing crowd of mutants around the school.

It hurt.

She sat on the roof, hot chocolate rapidly cooling beside her as she watched the moon above; bright, shining and full. She liked the moon; through it she was never alone, there was always someone else looking at it. Bruce taught her that as a child, it was how he always felt close to Betty. A spike of excitement shot through her and she smiled, wondering what had made him so happy. It took a year or so after he left for her to realise they were linked; that as her powers grew with training and age so did her link to him.

When she spoke to Hank about it he suggested that when she first met him and overloaded, she created an emotional link; but it's only as her powers develop and grow that the link is stronger. She can't feel everything unless she meditates and concentrates solely on him; but strong feelings she can sense.

This one made her smile. Too often he felt angry, or frightened. Sometimes he would suddenly become so angry that she'd get a huge dose, and the sudden switch of emotions would make her shake. She was suddenly brought from her thoughts by a surrounding of purple smoke and a smiling blue face. She couldn't help but scream in fright, and held her beating heart, feeling it slow as she began to laugh. "KURT! God…don't do that to me I nearly died of shock!"  
"mein apologies frauline, a top-up?" he held a flask of steaming hot chocolate and a bag of marshmallows and she grinned, happily accepting the offer.

They sat like that for a while, just watching the stars and drinking steaming chocolatey goodness before he broke the silence. "I haf ein question for you" she looked over curiously, "go on Kurt"  
"mein friend, Piotr, how are you feeling about him?"  
"Poitr? He's a nice guy, why?"  
"he is very shy…I come in his place to…" he was cut off by Ellie, who smirked over at her blue friend "if he wishes to talk to me about what I and he may or may not feel for each other he can come ask me himself"  
the smirk was returned by her blue friend, who nodded his head while wishing her goodnight, bamphing off, presumably to report to his metallic friend.

She headed in for the night as the chill became too much, the smell of sulphur making her eyes water slightly as she slid open her bedroom window and climbed rather ungracefully through, slipping slightly and nearly falling on her face. One wall was covered in photos, from outings and birthdays and just random poleroids she loved to take of people. Now she was staff (even if only in the summer) she got a room of her own, and the entire of her desk was piled high with graded papers from her English students.

The sun cast a pale blue glow across the room from her curtains that comfortably lulled her back into sleep past the beeping of her alarm clock. Which was entirely the wrong thing as when it went off again half an hour later she had to jump out of bed, throw on a dress and tights and smush her long hair into a messy bun at the back of her head; before grabbing her work bags for the day and running from the room. Then running back for her shoes.

Oh yeah, she totally acted like a 20 year old teacher in training.

Totally.


	9. Chapter 9

Slowly, the presents started appearing. Small drawings on her desk of flowers, herself leaning over a desk. She pinned them all to her wall with the photographs. They were beautiful, small and delicate and all signed with "Poitre". She knew that they said what he was too shy to; and she had to think of something in return. She looked through her shelves until she found what she was looking for; her old battered copy of pride and prejudice full of notes and annotation from her first year at Uni.

She wrapped it in a red ribbon and walked down towards his room. She felt inside and thankful it was empty, let herself in and placed it on his bed side table, before heading down to class.


	10. Chapter 10

Over the next few weeks Poitre and Ellie began seeing more of each other. It took a while to get past his shyness but as she could feel his emotion she knew he was happy. This had given her another reason to dread the return home. She loved being home, being close to her family and studying a subject she loved; English, but she hated the leaving. Being apart from everyone here that she loved, the environment she felt most comfortable in. where she could be open about being a mutant; and not have to control herself always.

She was sat as still as she could, watching as concentration creased his brow and his brush skimmed the canvas. She loved that he wanted to recreate her in his work. The summer sun felt wonderful on her face and she closed her eyes, letting the warmth fill her with light. Laughter filled her ears and she opened her eyes, watching the younger members of the house fire at each other with water pistols. A smile filled her face and laughter bubbled from her mouth as one of them misfired; hitting Logan in the back of the head. He turned and growled; causing them to scram. A sigh came from her right, and she turned, seeing a soft smile on Poitre's hard features. "муза please, remain still"  
"sorry sweetie, it's hard"

Kitty came into her line of sight, sliding down to sit cross legged next to jubilee; watching a slightly wet Logan tend to his bike. She looked down, missing her close friend. As she looked back up; she could see the three of them looking over at her before going back to talking, a stern look on the older man's face. She wondered if he was chastising her to her friends; saying how she needs to learn control.

Which she did. She hated using her powers for violence. She had that in common with Poitre, who sympathised with her and told her it couldn't be helped, and that Kitty would come round in time. She hoped he was true.

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Mr Green - Mr Blue, are you there?  
Mr Blue – Mr Green!  
Mr Blue – Good to hear from you again, my mysterious friend!  
Mr Green – I've found it.  
Mr Blue – At Long last.  
Mr Blue – It's a lovely little flower, isn't it?

Bruce looked down at his floral salvation, twisting it between his fingers before turning back to his conversation as it bleeped.

Mr Blue – be sure to try a high dose.  
Mr Blue – Good luck J

He turned off the encryption and closed the laptop, going back to his equipment to begin creating his antidote. He clipped the petals from the flowers into his pestle and mortar, squeezing his eyes shut in a silent prayer before he began. Mr Blue was a good friend, a fellow scientist. Their conversations were highly encrypted; as safe and secretive as they can make them.

He'd gotten used to using such primitive equipment over the last few years on the run; after he realised he couldn't keep using university labs. It took longer, and he had to concentrate more but at last it would be worth it. He watched as the green was eaten away by the extract under his microscope and breathed a low sigh of relief. Finally, finally he was free. He was free from this mess, free from the Hulk.

But that was all taken from him; once again his healthy looking normal red blood cells were taken over by green, and swelled enough to smash the class. He was so disappointed. He felt close to tears and clenched his fists; controlling his breathing as he had been taught to.

He opened up his laptop and reconnected with the encrypted line

Mr Green – Another failure  
Mr Blue - L how much did you use?  
Mr Green – All of it.  
Mr Blue – Then it's time to meet.  
Mr Green – Not safe.  
Mr Blue – Living with GAMMA poisoning not safe.  
Mr Blue – Stop chasing flowers.  
Mr Blue – Send me a blood sample.  
Mr Blue – Can't help if you won't let me.

Bruce looked over at a newspaper cutting of Betty, and knew what he had to do to reunite them. He drew his blood and posted it to new York, to Mr Blue.

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An old man padded over to his fridge and pulled out a bottle of Gurano Soda, the neck tickling his mustache as he took a sip. His eyes widened and he looked down at the bottle curiously "wow…". The bottle slid from his grasp and smashed on the tiled floor, splashing against his black shoes and tan trousers.

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"where was it bottled?" the general asked  
"Brazil"  
"send a team out, ask them to look for the only american man at the bottling factory. But don't let him see them; or he'll be gone."  
she nodded, "yes General Ross"  
"Banner…you're mine" he smirked; he'd get him this time; the monster that did that to his daughter; and who's blood they needed to create their super soldier. He would be controlled this time; as a good soldier should.


	11. Chapter 11

A bleeping awoke Banner; a message from Mr Blue.

Mr Blue – Good news.  
Mr Blue – Preliminary blood tests show significant gamma reduction  
Mr Green – Will it cure me?  
Mr Blue – Yes.  
Mr Blue – but…  
Mr Blue – I need more DATA.

"Oh come on…" Bruce leaned back, shaking his head before returning to the conversation as it bleeped again.

Mr Blue – Exposure levels  
Mr Blue – gamma concentration  
Mr Blue – cell saturation  
Mr Green – Impossible. Data is not here.  
Mr Blue – where is it?

Bruce sighed, and looked back over at his newspaper clipping. He worried about going back there; putting her in danger again. He licked his lips before typing

Mr Green – HOME.

And closing his laptop.

Secrets. They lurked behind the walls; stealthily in black, guns at the ready. They were confused; he looked weak, was simply a breach of security-why did they need this level of firepower? Ahh well; they weren't paid to wonder, they were paid to locate.

A child's cries could be heard in the distance as Bruce's dog sat up, waking the lightly sleeping man. He felt uneasy; had they found him again?

A camera slid under the door of his home; then was pulled as the dog got in the way of their viewing. They pushed explosives into the frame of the door and blew it; running into the small house with military precision, never breaking formation. Tranquilisers were shot into the figure in the bed.

They had him.

They finally had him.

Fear shot through Ellie, causing her to jump out of bed and into a crouched position. Ready to flee, ready to fight. She looked around and it took her a minute to realise her feelings weren't her own. It was strong, too strong to be from her old friend…surely?

She slipped out of the room, checking quietly in on the children and teenagers in the rooms around her, but she could see no nightmares. No crying children, no monsters in the wardrobes. She couldn't sleep now. Panic was gently racing through her, like a bad taste in her mouth; unexpected and foreign. How strong was their bond getting to be able to feel him so powerfully? How much were her powers growing?

He was running again; and she worried from what. She slipped into gym clothes and quietly padded away down the corridor. She worried what she would feel if he shifted, and needed to be somewhere where she wouldn't hurt anyone.

Bruce slid down a rope, startling a young woman in her room as he slipped in. he brought his finger to his lips and rapidly shushed her, lest she scream out. She was a friend from work, and he knew he was safe with her. She watched the soldiers run past, and helped him down to safety. But he ran the wrong way. He looked one of them right in the eye, before walking down a passageway; as casually as he could.

"He's there, GO, GO"

He ran, and they chased. They had to bring him back to justice; he was a thief, and they had been chasing him long enough. A voice rang through their ear pieces, the voice of General Ross; following in a surveillance van "Do. Not. Lose. Him!"

They chased him through the streets, parks and people. He was fast, but they had endurance on their side. They wouldn't let General Ross down. They would complete their mission.

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It was satisfying, the feel of her hand against the punch bag. Her pulse was racing, and all she could feel was rage. She'd locked herself in the gym, and was expelling rage from herself as quickly as it arrived. Her body was glowing gold, in a way that was usually only exhibited through her eyes; in the same way storms turned white. Kitty watched from the large window, along with Logan; who she'd awoken once she saw the inquisitive eyes of her friend looking into the children's rooms and realised something wasn't right.

Logan nodded to his smaller friend, and unsheathed one claw through the door lock, before stepping in. Kitty followed, and quickly made herself intangible as rage washed over them in droves. Their friend was levitating, glowing golden and obviously angry.

"kid…calm down"

"I can't! It's not my anger!" she shouted, continuing to decimate the bag in front of her before she switched over to her friends. She couldn't hurt kitty again.

"Not your…not your anger? Then who's anger is it?!" he asked, flipping his head round to face kitty, who looked down

"it's his…the Hulks" she muttered, looking up at Ellie "isn't it?"

The punching stopped for a moment "yes." And then continued. She wrapped her arms around the bag before sliding down to the floor as sobs wracked her body. "as my powers grow I feel him more and more, he's becoming a near constant presence in my head"

Her glowing faded, and she slid unconscious onto the mat, into Kitty's arms.


	12. Chapter 12

The ground was cold and hard on his chest as he came to. He was disorientated, and the soothing sounds of water running nearby threatened to aid him in slipping back into unconsciousness; but he resisted. He slowly scrambled to his feet, slipping on the wet rocks, and held his shredded pants up, tying them on. He hung his head; his bag was gone…they probably had it; the men who were chasing him.

Snippets of the fight flashed through his mind as he walked; being attacked by some thugs from the bottling plant; shot at by the soldiers. He'd thrown a truck at them…probably ruined the plant that had supported him. Guilt shot through him, he only hoped there were no fatalities.

The low rumbling of a truck hit his ears, and he stumbled forward towards it; the man seemingly unfazed by his half naked state. They were in Guatemala; he'd never run so far before…he must have been the hulk for days…he managed to ask for a lift in broken Spanish; and thankfully was given a jacket to cover him as they drove through the lush jungle.

Chiapas-Mexico. He sat in a market, tired and hungry. His trousers were no better than rags and he held out his hands to beg; head hung in shame. A child ran over, placing a few coins in his cupped fingers; and he looked up gratefully. He needed to get home. But first; he needed clothes.

He slept on the streets, his dreams plagued by the soldiers guns; aimed right at his face. This process wasn't unfamiliar; and while it was something he hated; sleeping rough was often his only choice. He closed his eyes; he needed to rest; he had a long walk ahead of him tomorrow.

Three days they kept her sedated. Her pulse was racing, and whenever she began to awaken she'd thrash against the restraints, practically growling in anger. In moments of clarity she only begged to be put back under. Kitty sat by her bed the entire time; until at last the green eyes they all knew opened; instead of the pure gold ones of recent. She coughed; "Kitty?"  
"I'm here, I'm here, are you ok?" she eyed her blonde friend warily, wanting to undo the restraints but afraid to do so.  
"I'm good; he's himself again"  
"why did it affect you so much? He's turned before and you've just been a bit grumpy; but this time…you scared us El…"  
"I don't know…my powers have been growing, it's weird, I feel fine now"  
"I wish the professor was here…he'd know what was going on. We've called Hank in though, he should arrive tomorrow" Kitty sighed; undoing the supports.

Ellie tentatively lifted the cotton bud, only to see clean; healed skin. She gasped, causing her blue friend to look up curiously, his glasses balanced on the end of his nose. "I'm healed!"  
"I'm not surprised my dear, it appears your rather…aggressive reaction to your friends behaviour was akin to a growth spurt"  
"a growth spurt?"  
"yes, much like how every so often adolescents feel pain as they rapidly grow; your powers flared up as they rapidly developed"  
"they have been really strong lately; I've been able to feel him from so far away…my birthday present arrived last week; he's in Brazil"  
"Kitty mentioned that you were glowing; and floating; perhaps this is a new ability for you; I recommend we continue through to the danger room and see if we can activate this new ability; train it. Hopefully, the reaction you had to Mr Banners change won't affect you again in this way"

"If that thing shows up again; you're gonna have a lot of professional tough guys pissing in their pants…sir"

The general didn't look amused; but had to explain how the Hulk came to be; before he lost his best men. He explained how Banner thought he was researching radiation resistance; but instead he was working on a new super soldier formula; one he inadvertently tested on himself. Leading to the creation of the Hulk they faced in Brazil.

The general sat down "as far as I'm concerned, that man's whole body is property of the U.S. government"  
"you said…he wasn't working on weapons right?"  
"No"  
"but you were right?"  
"One serum; one serum to create the most advanced super soldiers possible…how old are you Blonsky, 45?"

The soldier seemed confused before answering; "39"  
"takes a tole doesn't it?"  
Blonsky nodded. "if the 20 year old me knew what I know now…he'd be a force to be reckoned with"  
the general looked serious as he turned and said "I can make that happen"

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Training began the next day; beginning with meditation. She sat and focused; clearing her mind as Hanks words flowed over her. "Focus on your powers. Unlock them, fill yourself with energy; with emotion"  
"I can't unlock that much anger by myself"  
"Then don't…use happiness, good memories to bring them forth"  
She did; focusing on happiness; running all the good memories through her head like a filmstrip. Days out with friends, the sun against the coast back home; spinning round on a chair in Bruce's lab. A kiss from Poitre, the feeling of wet dew covered grass under her toes.

And she felt warmth filling her; tickling and tingling; power buzzing under her skin. She opened her eyes when she heard Hanks gasp, and he didn't just look like hank. He had a swirling aura around him, dancing colours showing his emotions, fear, astonishment, wonder. He was curious, and she wished she could see herself through his eyes. She looked down at her arms, seeing glowing light in the shape of limbs. She gasped, and her bum hit the floor. She hadn't even realised she was floating. The lights around hank stopped, as did the warmth. He looked up at her and grinned. "Again".


	13. Chapter 13

He was here…Culver University; Virginia. This was where it all began; where his personal war was created, a war that was hopelessly looking like it would never end. Just a continual fight with his emotions that was tiring and horrendous.

He had been 17 days without incident; but had stretchy pants at the ready just in case. He should have done this in Brazil, save money on extra clothes that would just be destroyed anyway when the inevitable occurred.

He needed his work from his lab; but without a valid reason he would never get into the building. That's when he saw her; hair blowing in the wind, which picked up the skirt of her green and white striped dress. He walked towards her as she sat on a black bench; drawn irresistibly towards her. She seemed to look towards him and he froze, sliding back towards the safety of the tree; but the smile that graced her face wasn't for him, and his heart ached as she leaned into the kiss of another.

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She'd been working none stop that weekend on developing her powers. Life returned to normal for the next week or two; and Poitre came back from his mission. She was waiting for him in the studio, a grin on her face. She had missed him; and couldn't wait to tell him about her 'growth spurt'. He came in the room and she ran at him, jumping into his embrace. "oh my goodness I wish you were here my powers went all fritzy and now they've had a growth spurt and I can fly!" but the embrace wasn't returned, and when she pushed herself up to kiss him he hesitated. "Are…are you ok?" she questioned. He was quiet for a moment before responding with a simple nod.  
"Should I leave you alone Poitre?" he shook his head and kissed her forehead.  
"I'm just tired, it was a hard mission" he said, looking above her head out of the windows. She looked down at her feet "you bring the kid in?"  
"Yeah, she tried to set fire to me though, it was hot; she'll be powerful one day"  
"Should I let you sleep? Talk to you tomorrow?"  
"If you wouldn't mind Ellie, I'll hear about your powers tomorrow"  
He sounded distant, and she was worried. They'd only been together for 2 months but she was happy. She hoped he was too…She was hurt too, it was a big thing- her powers changing. And he couldnt muster up any enthusiasm...

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His bicycle wobbled as he dodged pupils, red cap pulled over his face; shielding him from anyone who could recognise him. Bruce had visited an old friend a few nights before; who had given him a room for the night and a delivery job, and with it, a way into the university.

He gave a pizza to the security guard as a bribe; and continued up to the labs, with the excuse that he had to make sure it wasn't a fake callout. He logged into the lab computers with Betty's login, and brought up the search for the experiment.

Nothing.

He searched for himself.

Nothing.

Rubbing his nose he brought up the encrypted chat-room; and rang Mr Blue.

Mr Blue – Mr. Green!  
Mr Blue – how goes the search?  
Mr Green – the data is gone.  
Mr Blue – without it…  
Mr Blue – I cannot help  
Mr Blue – so what now?  
Mr Green – I've got to keep moving

He was stopped before he could leave by an intern, who locked the door as he went to leave. "I saw what you searched…"  
"You must be mistaken; I just borrowed to computer to get my next delivery address; my phones dead"  
"no…you searched for the gamma pulse project. Its ok; I'm friends with Elizabeth. I'm guessing you're Bruce?"  
He nodded. He didn't know what to do; to run or hear her out. He stayed; with the door locked he didn't have a huge amount of choice.  
She walked to a cupboard in the corner of the lab, and opened it with her keys to reveal a safe. Twisting in the combination she extracted a box from behind the acids. Opening it; she withdrew a data pen on a long lanyard, and handed it to him. "You haven't been to see her have you?"  
"No…she's moved on. I saw her kiss him; she deserves to be happy"  
The woman smiled. "You're a good person Bruce" she unlocked the door, "she kept this for you; we knew you'd come looking eventually"

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Packing up his belongings, he prepared to leave. It wasn't safe to stay here; not safe for his friends. He came through the kitchen doors to leave when he stopped in his tracks. There she was; as beautiful as ever. He backed up as their eyes locked; and bolted. She'd moved on; and didn't need the stress he would give her. She was with a lovely psychologist; he was far better for her than a monster. He set off into the night; towards the lab of Mr Blue, cold rain trailing down his neck.

The general entered the room and smiled; walking over to a large canister. He unlocked it; and lifting the lid removed a small vial of fluid. His super soldier would exist.

Bruce ran. he'd been calmly walking to the bus when they came for him, jumping from behind the pillars of the university and crashing through in vans. One soldier ran through the others; faster than he should be. He was the one that filled his nightmares. Banner ran into the library, hiding behind a bookshelf as he pulled his data pen from his bag. He unclipped the lanyard before taking a deep breath and shoving the data pen down his throat. He couldn't lose it if he turned; not now. He bolted through the glass overpass that connected the libraries, but the door at the other end was locked. He ran to the first but he knew its fate; also locked. Two canisters shot through the glass; pouring white smoke into the room. It was too late; he knew what was about to happen.

Their bullets bounced off his skin as he ran, tipping their armored trucks and tanks as he went as if they were weightless. Blonsky ran forwards with a grenade launcher, popping them at him to no avail. "Remember me?" he asked cockily, continuing to shoot. Sound cannons blasted from ahead; mounted on the back of trucks. Blonsky jumped higher than any man should, and was blasted to the side; but the Hulk continued, using metal sheets to take out the vehicles. He caught his breath; looking around and preparing to bolt when gunshot peppered his skin to no avail. He stepped up to the enormous green man; who promptly kicked him into a tree, his body going limp like a puppet who's strings had been cut.

A child's scream sounded; and was quickly overpowered by the sound of helicopters blades. The Hulk ran forwards as shots fired around him towards the little boy; and enveloped him in his large arms. The shots stopped and he straightened up, the boy looking up at him with wide eyes, touching his face gently with one tiny hand. The soldiers backed away and he was gone. They had lost their hulk again.


	14. Chapter 14

A week. A week was all it took for Blonsky to heal. The Hulk had reduced his bones to gravel; fractures everywhere. They'd given him hours to live, set about finding next of kin; ready to contact them when the inevitable occurred. But a week later, he was frightening those around him by healing completely, and stating he was angry; and expecting round three.

The time had come; he'd finally made his way to New York; and to Mr Blue. He'd hitched, stowed away and experienced the most frightening cab ride of his life to get here; and he desperately hoped this man could help him. He kept a keen eye out for the man whose image he had only seen in photographs.

They took the stairs slowly, tapping the thin man on the arm, who looked around expectantly. "Mr Blue?"

His eyes widened and he stuttered "Mr…Mr Green?"  
All Bruce had to do was smile and he was pulled into a hearty handshake. "Oh it's so wonderful to finally meet you Mr Green; in all honesty I had started to wonder if you were even real but here you are!"

He pulled Mr Green through the university to his lab; buzzing around it like a hyperactive fly as he set up the machine. Banner laid himself on the table and allowed the large restraints to be tightened to his limbs; in case of a "strong reaction"; the irony of which causing Bruce to chuckle.

His blood left, was mixed with the antidote and returned to him through a dialysis machine. A sharp shock was put through his temples; and he felt the other guy starting to come through. Mr Blue's eyes widened as his body changed; and the flailing hulk knocked him to the ground as the chair buckled beneath the hulks weight. He scrambled to his feet and began pushing larger amounts of antidote into the green man's bloodstream, kicking machines as they began to malfunction. The writing monster slowly stilled however, his eyes sliding closed and a smile appearing on his face as he began to very slowly shrink.

Fear and anger zipped up her spine and she stilled, waiting for a reaction that never came. She listened to him; his emotions didn't show the desperation that came with battle; just the fear of hurting someone. She slid down into a meditative pose; allowing the gold glow to creep up her feet towards her head. She focused on calmness, channeling it through their link and into her old friend. He wasn't going to have any unnecessary injuries or deaths on his conscious if she could help it. She felt his fear ebb; and happiness fill her; and wondered if the hulk could feel her familiar presence.

His skin had a sheen of sweat, and his eyes suddenly widened as he took a gulp of air "Ellie?" he looked around but she wasn't there. It made no sense; he'd felt her so strongly, the gently golden warmth flowing through him; bringing him back to his own body. Had it worked? Or was he himself because of her…

"Am I cured? Did it work?"  
"I'm inclined to believe we merely suppressed the…reactions…but its hard to know; none of our previous test subjects survived long enough to be able to see if they were cured"

He continued to babble about cell biology but all Bruce heard was "test subjects", ringing back and forth in his head. "Wait, wait! What test subjects?"

"Come with me"

"We started with small rodents; but had to move onto larger subjects. The possibilities are limitless! We're talking the Nobel Prize here! We can make humans resistant to disease, Olympian…"  
he was cut off by Bruce "no. we burn it all. Tonight. I didn't give you permission to create more of my blood! You don't understand how much danger you're in. they're after me; and they don't want to make it into a cure, they want to make it a weapon"  
"Mr Green, I hate the government as much as any scientist; but don't you think you're being a little para…"

Before he could finish his word a tranquiliser dart smashed through the window and into Banner's shoulder. Blonsky strutted into the room; and pushed Mr Blue out of the way as he slapped his target in the face, shouting as he went "where is he! Show him to me Banner, show me the monster!"

But it never came; he merely passed out and was removed from the building in straps.

Blonsky cornered Bruce's confidant, pushing a gun into his face. "I want it; what he has. Did you see it?"  
Mr Blue answered; a small smile on his face "I did; it was beautiful, Godlike"  
"I know. And I want it. I want what he has. He tries to avoid it-I want to embrace it"  
"you…you look like you've got a little something in you already"  
"I have…and I want more"  
"the combination; you could become an abomination"  
Blonsky lifted him into the air by his shirt, and the elevated man stuttered out "I didn't say no. I just needed to let you know; to get informed permission"

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They huddled around a TV; watching the destruction of New York when Ellie entered the room with Poitre. "What's going on?" she asked. "Suit up Ellie; Bruce is rampaging again; it's the worst I've ever seen him" Storm replied  
She frowned. "No he's not"  
They looked at her, and she got mixed looks of confusion to that statement. From those who knew of their link; confusion as to who it was, and especially on the face of her boyfriend; confusion as to how she knew. He spoke first. "Don't be in denial Ellie; everyone struggles with their powers. We can help him again. Look at him; who else could that be"

She looked at the screen properly, analysing the large man on the screen and turned to him "I don't know who that is, but it's not Bruce. It's A hulk, but it's not MY hulk"  
"your hulk? Since when has he been YOUR hulk?" Poitre asked, tenseness filling the air. He continued "and how did you know he wasn't before even seeing the screen?"  
"We're linked ok? I can feel him, in here" she gestured to her head "and here!" she gestured to her heart. "I know when he's angry; I know when he's lost control. And it's obvious that that's not Bruce-look at it! It's a monster!"  
"This is why isn't it; that you've never said you love me back?"

Looks were exchanged and the crowd began to slip from the room; leaving the couple in privacy.

"What? I've never said it back because we've only been together a few months!"  
"Would you love me if you weren't so in love with him"  
"I'm not in love with him! For god's sake I've not seen the man since I was 15, how can you love someone from that long ago"  
"he's not far away, he's in you. You feel him every day; and you'll never have that intimacy with anyone else. I pity you; you do not know even your own emotions"  
"Poitre no!" she shouted as he left the room.  
"No Ellie. I'm done competing with another man"


	15. Chapter 15

Kitty chased her down the long corridor under the school, "Ellie! Ellie! Wait up!"  
her friend slowed, turning; her face stoney. "El, you ok?"  
"I have to be Kit…we need to help out with that monster before he levels Harlem. The time for being sad is later"

They suited up, pulling on the black and yellow leather outfits quickly; their boots resonating around the room as they ran to the blackbird jet. They strapped themselves into their seats, and looked around with anticipation as the sleek black plane raised out of the basketball court. The other team members gave her side glances as she sat stoically. Her emotions were conflicting; her main worry that while she was upset about their break-up, she didn't feel upset enough.

They were given their mission breakdown; the experienced members of the team were fighting and the younger or less experienced members were on evac; getting innocents out of the area as quickly as they could.

"Give me a real fight!" the words grumbled out of the green giants mouth; as he smashed a car into the ground. the flight wasn't long, and they were soon placing the jet on the roof of a large building, and making their way down to the ground. Ellie flew directly down the side of the building, carrying Cyclops under his arms, so they can launch an aerial assault. He caught the monster from behind, a beam of red hitting it in the back of the head. The monster turned; giving Kitty the chance to come up from the ground under his feet and faze her hand inside his ankle. He screamed as her hand became solid and hit the floor; barely missing her with his gargantuan fists. Wind whipped up around him; and hale the size of bowling balls rained down the moment the others in her team moved out of storms way. They'd drilled that manoeuvre; and this was the first time someone wasn't nearly knocked out.

Explosions went off all around him, briefly disorientating him as they resonated; causing him to twist between them. Fatigue began to creep at his senses as Psyche manipulated his emotions; draining his emotional energy to power her own attack. She made an obvious target, gold glowing form hovering in the air and he lunged for her; but she dodged his attacks with ease, darting between his hands. She twisted her hands together and fired a ball of emotional energy at the ankle Kitty broke earlier and it missed, hitting him in the thigh instead. She cursed her terrible aim and swung around, aiding some of the younger mutants in rescuing people from cars while her energy levels built up again.

Two soldiers fired a large rocket from a launcher but he caught it; his laugh menacing as he crushed it, the flames engulfing his form but causing no damage. Wolverine pounced; sliding his claws into the flesh of the creatures pulsating neck and pushing his curled up legs downwards, ripping 6 long gashes in the pale green back. Jubilee quickly flicked energy balls into the cuts as they healed; detonating them from the inside and causing the faux Hulk to cry out in pain. Lighting hit him; again and again but only caused mild charring. They were becoming exhausted; what had they filled this man with? His ankle was obviously broken and his back open and bleeding; but he didn't even seem to notice the pain.

Kitty joined Ellie in rescuing the trapped passengers, fazing them through seatbelts as Ellie smashed in windscreens; pulling frightened passengers from smouldering cars and pointing them towards the safe evacuation points. The distinctive sounds of helicopters could be heard from above; though one stood out, as instead of fleeing the scene as the others had it hovered in the air. The grin on the monsters face grew as he looked up, and he began attempting to walk towards the abandoned and piled up vehicles.  
"GO!" shadowcat shouted, "I can handle things here!"

Ellie flew up, ready to warn the soldiers inside that this wasn't the time to try and be heroes; that it wouldn't work. As she neared it; the back doors opened, and a figure started walking out, all in blue could be seen. He dropped, and she realised it was him. Bruce. The hulk was here to help. She darted up to the open doors and shouted in "leave! Before you're all killed!" and guns were pointed in her direction. She shook her head "General Ross I presume…" before turning and dropping from the sky herself. That was when she realised; why was Banner still human? Why hadn't he changed?

She sped up, pumping all the fear from around her into his small, dropping form but it didn't work; his eyes met hers as he smashed into the sidewalk; and she screamed; fear and dread filling her. There was no way he'd survive that; no human could…her heart broke, her world caved in and for a suddenly; the only thing she felt in her head was her. It was horrendous. She shook in mid-air, pulling her knees up to her chest as she sobbed. Her fellow mutants looked up at her as her sadness hit them in waves; and people who were previously running fell to the ground in tears. Poitre was right…and now it was too late. How could she carry on without him, without him with her permanently; a constant, comforting presence in her soul. 

She realised her love too late.


	16. Chapter 16

A twitch. She felt it in her head like a pulse; beating into life and her heart soared. The pavement cracked, and a green fist pumped through; followed by the large muscular shoulders of her old friend; and love. She threw her fists in the air, letting out a "whoop!" of happiness. He was alive. Happiness surged through her; and with it, power. More power than she'd ever felt before in her life.

The two green men leaped for each other, and as the hulk was smacked to the side, scraping along the tarmac as he landed. He struggled to get up; and as he struggled a gold hand touched his shoulder, causing his head to shoot up, a growl at his bared teeth. The smile and the touch was familiar though; and the Hulks voice grumbled out "Ellie?"  
"hello Hulk, come on; lets get him". She placed an impulsive and gentle kiss on his cheekbone and flew up; still holding onto the large hand with both of hers; pulling him up. She gestured to a large car to the side of them and he grinned; smashing it in half and using it as boxing gloves to smack him with; while she fired balls of energy at him from above. The other mutants joined; firing at the larger mutated man from all directions if they could.

He kicked Bruce into a building on the far side of the street, and they chased, firing at him with energy balls, explosives, lightening and eye lasers. Somewhere in between the gunfire started; and above them was the helicopter from before; shooting at the monster with all it had. It jumped onto the base of the helicopter, and as the hulk jumped she flew up with him, shouting "his right ankle Hulk! Grab it" Bronsky howled in pain as the broken bones pulled apart under the hulks considerable weight. The helicopter span out of control; pinning the brute underneath it; and scraping over him until it reached a stop. Ellie reached the top shortly afterwards, and checked the soldiers for pulses. She began to help one towards the only exit when the helicopter roof creaked in; and the door was crushed shut. From the small viewing point; she could see fuel leaking from the tank; and the occasional spark from above. She was frightened; for herself and the soldiers. And for her Hulk.

A spark however; was all it needed. The petrol began to ignite and in her fear Ellies powers trickled from her; a very human face was the last thing the Hulk saw before flames engulfed the metal tomb. He threw Blonsky off him; and ran forwards, throwing out a clap. The resonance blasted the flames, and they were thrown backwards in the small room. "Look out!" one of the soldiers shouted; as a large piece of concrete side swiped their saviour. Ellie slipped down into a meditative position, and channelled as much energy as she had; as she could feel around her into the Hulk. He raised himself from the ground as the soldiers started to snore around her. "any last words?" sneered Blonsky as he looked down at the Hulk; who ran at him, knocking him down to the ground. "HULK…SMASH" he shouted; and laid both fists into the enemy with all of his strength. It was done; Blonsky began turning back into himself, unconscious and bleeding.

He staggered towards the helicopter, and using Ellie's given energy reserves ripped off an entire side of the helicopter. A smile graced his large face as a sleepy looking blonde opened her green eyes and looked directly at him. "Hey there big boy, long time no see" she said, a laugh bubbling from her cracked; bleeding lips. He pulled her out, and as the shine of a helicopters beam hit him from above; and the claps coming from around started; he bolted, holding her against his chest as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, to where the blackbird was waiting. It was empty; the rest of the team down on the streets doing damage control.

She hugged him as he placed her down, and looked up at him. "I've missed you"  
he nodded, stroking her face with one enormous finger, which she leaned into. "Hulk, need to go" he said, looking sad. "Do you really have to; you can come back with us? Live a safe life"  
"no…need to be away. Away from here"  
"don't run then Bruce. Go do some good in the world. You know you can"

He nodded, and went to leave. "Wait!" she called, and he turned back to face her. "I'm sorry"  
he growled lowly in confusion, and she laughed nervously. "For this". She reached up, holding both hands against his large face and kissed him, hitting his bottom lip as his lips dwarfed her own. He looked at her in shock, before pulling her against him. She felt his lips on the top of her head and then he was gone, his large form quickly becoming smaller as he darted along the rooftops.


	17. Chapter 17

She closed her eyes and visibly sagged. "What do I do now kitty; I have no idea when I'll see him again?"  
"You keep going; you deal with it"  
"But it hurts"  
"It always does, it's understandable that you ignored it"  
"I didn't ignore it. I just…I don't know…"  
"When you feel that way about someone, I don't think you're supposed to know. It's subtle and creeps up on you"

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The next two years race by. Ellie stands in a small room with her friends; tugging on her gown to nervously straighten out invisible creases. Her cap felt unsteady on her head; and she bounced on the spot to ease her nerves. She'd finally finished her degree; and was about to be given her graduation certificates. She'd managed to sandwich a teaching degree in with her English one; a difficult and time consuming task.

The walk to the stage felt like forever; and she saw her family waving madly from the seats; causing her to laugh. A man was staring at her; but she shook it off; he must have been looking at someone behind her. The affair was lengthy; and the year reps gave quite possibly the most boring speech ever created; and by the yawns around her she guessed she wasn't the only person with that belief.

Her thoughts drifted. It'd been three years since she'd been in the states for longer than a summer. two years since she last saw him; since the fight, the rescue, the hug, the kiss…she shook her head, she had to stop thinking about it. She'd tried to move on, had accepted dates and dinners and days out; but come the end of the night when they leaned over to kiss her all she could see was him. It was hard, being so totally and ridiculously in love with someone hundreds of miles away. They exchanged letters but their kiss hadn't been mentioned; or even brought up. He was in Calcutta, doing aid work. She'd always felt he could do so much good; and it made her happy that he finally was. Curiously he called himself Mr Green, and had begun calling her Miss Gold. She figured it was merely part of his fear of being found.

She was startled from her thoughts by a nudge in her side. Her name was being called; and she gently walked to the stage; all of her concentration on her steps. 'Don't trip' repeated in her head like a mantra. Finally she reached the stage; shook the man's hand; collected her certificate and managed to get down to the area where everyone was stood. She caught her mother's eye and couldn't help but grin. All the hard work was worth it; she'd finally finished, and at the top of her year.

She celebrated with her parents, sipping champagne and nibbling sandwiches, doing the obligatory cap throwing photo with her friends. There were tears and laughter, and the night sped by. They were about to head out for their night out when the man from earlier walked over, "excuse me Miss. Winters"  
She turned and looked over, "hmm?" she was confused; and sped through her memory trying to place his face.  
"Don't worry; we've not had the pleasure of meeting"  
"Oh thank god I couldn't remember your name for the life of me"  
He chuckled "I'm Agent Coulston"  
"Agent?"  
"Indeed, I'm from S.H.I.E.L.D"

Now there was a name she recognised; they had files on S.H.I.E.L.D, as she expected S.H.I.E.L.D had files on her.  
"What can I do for S.H.I.E.L.D agent?"  
"We were hoping you'd come in and join us"  
"Join you? I'm aware your files probably tell you I'm already part of a team"  
"Trust me; they do. But we're also aware that even if you switch; you'll still be part of their family"  
"Very true; you've done your homework Agent"  
"As have you I'm sure"  
"You know us secret teams, keeping an eye on each other" she said, smirking over at the older man  
"Indeed" he chuckled. She liked him; he was witty.  
"Now I suppose this is where you tell me what's in this sudden team change for me?"  
"Of course, I believe you know a mister Bruce Banner"  
"Very true"  
"How would you like to work with him?"  
"Now that's an interesting proposition!"  
"We hoped you'd enjoy the opportunity"  
"What work would I be doing?" she asked, looking at him with a raised brow.  
"We have an item in our possession; we need Dr Banner to figure it out; he's the best in his field with Gamma research"  
"Let me guess…you need me on hand in case he hulks out"  
"We do"  
"Will I have any job in my own right? Or am I merely to be a nanny?"

He hesitated; "the team at the moment involves research; we would need you to be a minder, but in the future; if its needed you'll be doing work very similar to what you're doing now. We'd put you up in a shield house and you'll be around some of Earths mightiest heroes. A library all to yourself if you wish it, you can teach; or write"  
"So long as I'm there to calm Bruce down"  
"Yes."

She looked at the ground for a moment. He was right; she'd always be part of the x-men family; but she was an adult now; and she needed to follow her heart.

"I appreciate your honesty. It's a paid position I suppose?"  
"Indeed, a generous salary for not a huge amount of work"  
"Then you sir, have a new agent. Call it the X-man in me, but i tend to prefer first names, agent…" the question hung in the air and he smiled  
"Phillip Coulston"  
"Marvellous Phil, call me Ellie"


	18. Chapter 18

While a little shocked; the team were fine about her leaving. Phil was right; they were still her family, and always would be. There were presents and a leaving party; and her friends helped her pack up her things into the S.H.I.E.L.D car. Coulston looked a little out of place among the party but they ensured he was well fed and conversed with.

"You'll need a new name you know"  
"What? Jube what's wrong with Ellie?"  
"You are so stupid. I mean a superhero name! Psyche is your X-men name and you cant use it there!"  
Kitty laughed "glowstick!"  
Jubilee continued "lava lamp!"  
"Sunbeam!"  
"Glitterball!"  
"Nightlight!"

"Shut up guys! God" she laughed, jumping on her suitcase while the others forced the zip across. She had no idea what name she'd go by; but they had a point. As her powers evolved she couldn't just feel emotions anymore, but the energy the emotions gave off. She had become more a being of energy than psychology, and did need a name change.

"I actually kinda like Sunbeam…"  
"You'd sound like a right hippy Ellie" laughed jubilee  
"True…how about Goldstar?" she suggested  
"Dawnguard?" asked Kitty  
"No reference to the gold?" Ellie asked, confused.  
"Well no you're not always like, pure gold"  
"I'm not?"  
"Nah, most of the time you're gold, but sometimes you're more yellow or orange. That time you…" Kitty gulped "you know, feared me up you weren't gold at all, you seemed darker in areas" at the shocked look on her blonde friends face she hurriedly said "but you know I was pretty out of it then, was probably just the shadows in the room and all that"

"Dawnguard…" she repeated the name, rolling it over her tongue and smiling. "I like it!"

The room was large, and Ellie was sat in the top of it next to a blond man. He was very quiet but she didn't mind; her book was entertainment enough. she was re-reading the Harry Potter series; she knew they were for children but she didn't mind; she loved the magic and fun of them; and each had everyone's names in the front; a present when she left.

She missed them. The new base was quiet and serious; a stark change from the hustle and bustle of the mansion; full of music and life. The only exciting factor for her was the tesseract; which fascinated her. It shone with blue light, with swirling storm-like patterns on its surface. She desperately wanted to go down and ask a thousand questions to the scientists but she felt she'd just get in the way.

She sighed and put down her book; curiously watching as a commotion began beneath them; something about it giving off Gamma Radiation. They were considering evacuating the building; but they had no idea what it was capable of. It had been brought up from the ocean by Howard Stark, and until her old friend was recruited for the research project. She turned onto her back and propped her crossed ankles on the wall, sliding her head and shoulders through the gap in the railing. Her long hair cascaded down and she smiled as agent Coulston walked in; and gave her a small wave. He walked over to the scientists and talked for a while before wandering over so he was beneath her. "Can we walk Eleanor?"  
"Of course Philip" the formalities made her laugh, she had the feeling he was unused to first names.  
"Have you thought about a new costume?" he asked  
she raised her eyebrows "what do you mean? I have a costume"  
"you have an x-men suit; have you thought about your own costume? A superhero name"  
She looked up at him "Dawnguard"  
"Hmm?" he asked.  
"My new name; the girls helped me come up with it. Dawnguard. Dawn since I glow and light up and all that, and Guard since that's what I am. I Guard people from things; mutant threats, rampaging hulks…bad English grades"  
he laughed, and continued "I just helped with the design of the new Captain America suit; it got me thinking. You can have your own costume; your own identity separate from the X-men"  
She looked down at the black costume with the yellow stripe and sighed. It would be nice to have a change…she was a woman now; and had been wearing the same costume since she was 15…

"I think I should…that would be really awesome"  
"I'm glad you approve; now; let's get lunch"

She looked in the mirror; her X-men costume was a part of her. Her skin shone gold, she could feel it creeping up from her feet to her head, but the costume hid it. Only her face, neck and hands could be seen and she wondered if she should go for something that showed off her arms; her legs. She liked the yellow; maybe she could make that more of a big deal…a trademark.

She had plenty of time to figure it out; and flopped down on her bed to sleep.

"Long sleeves, small shorts" she told the costume maker.  
"What about swim bottoms? You have the body to pull it off, nicely toned. Good curves"  
"nah I like them but I've seen too many…slippages. Better to go with shorts"

The woman laughed. "True, you don't want to stop mid battle to fix a wedgie"  
Ellie winked "I want a fan-base who likes me for my abilities, not my suddenly visible ass cheeks"

"What colour?"  
"Yellow"  
"Yellow?"  
"Yellow"  
"You sure?"  
"Positive, its like…a trademark."  
"Anything else?"  
"Black belt, black knee high boots"

The stylist hesitated, before picking up a rubber and going to the sketch. "take off the sleeves"  
"Why?"  
"Trust me, see?"

Ellie looked down and saw the sleeves being taken off, and replaced with a thick halter neck. The belt was carried up to under the bust, and the black re-shown in a pair of elbow length gloves with a yellow stripe at the top. It was perfect.

"Cape?" Ellie asked  
"No cape!" the stern tone of the woman took her by surprise and she quickly agreed.


	19. Chapter 19

The streets were crowded and bustling, the air ripe with the smells of spices and food. Bruce took the road gently in a beat up scooter, enjoying the sun on his face and the ensnarement of his senses. He was doing his regular rounds, an illness was running rife through the squished together families and he was doing all he could to ensure his patients recovered; or at least left this world peacefully.

His final family he always made sure to save till last. They were a lovely group; a ailing grandfather, his daughter and her husband and their 5 children, 3 daughters and 2 sons. "Doctor thank goodness you're here; he's been coughing so much today…"  
"Sanvi don't worry, I'll make him up a steam-bath and it'll help"

The children ran around him while he worked; dropping menthol crystals into hot water and placing it under their grandfather's head, covering him with a towel to keep the steam in. He checked the children over while he was there, and addressed the youngest; Aditya's sleep troubles, telling the family to prop her up in her cot as lying down is painful with her colic.

As always, they invited him for tea. Sanvi was a wonderful cook; and as they were low on money she always paid him in food; which he graciously accepted. He enjoyed the life here, the way he was settled; the way he was treated as equal, as family by most of his patients. He had respect; as opposed to the running and hiding that he was so accustomed to. He watched Sanvi's husband come in, and the loving embraces they shared and couldn't help but be jealous.

He often wondered if she'd move on, the same way Betty did… to want him and then leave when he left. It was for the better though, he had left her after she kissed him, not the other way around and he couldn't blame her for moving on if she had. He wished he'd felt the kiss and not the other guy; that he could have savoured it, truly enjoyed the moment before he ran but he didn't have that kind of luck.

They wrote; using the Mr Green pseudonym, same as before. He never asked if she'd moved on; their romantic options never came up, he only knew that she missed him, and vice versa. He looked at his collection of clippings; the X-men had become quite famous, and he had a good picture of his glowing golden woman, in her yellow and black suit.

He held it to his forehead as he sighed. He selfishly hoped that he would have the chance to ask her to become his. he'd never have expected this, these feelings, but it was the most right thing he'd felt in a long time.

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The sound of sirens woke Ellie, and she fell from the bed in a panic; sheets wrapped around her body. Her new suit was hung in her wardrobe and she threw it on, shoving her hair up in a high ponytail and running from the room, hopping as she pulled on her boots mid-travel. Everyone was evacuating, and if she wanted answers she was pretty sure she knew which room to go to.

She got there as Fury did, and heard snippets of their conversation "she's an energy source, if we turn off the power she turns it back on" Ellie, intrigued quickly sidled beside Barton. "What's going on?" she whispered  
"the Tesseract is misbehaving, we're evacuating as a precautionary measure"

She thought for a moment before asking "what if its opening?"  
"Opening?" he asked, looking down at the smaller agent.  
"Well yeah, it's a door right? so who says it only opens one way-what if someone's opening the door at their end"  
"Let's hope not…" his words drew off as he had a message through his coms. He stood up gracefully; slid down a black rope and proceeded to tell Fury of her theory. the large man looked up at her with his one good eye and nodded; it felt good to get validation from him, she worried she was no use.

It began to spark, white and blue light coming from the cube. A beam of light shot out, becoming a swirling vortex at the end of the room. The vortex exploded; blasting everyone in the room with light and wind. Then there was silence, and a man kneeled where the vortex had been. He was smouldering, and when he stood one of the most frightening smiles Ellie had ever seen marred his handsome features.

"Drop the spear" Fury's voice rang true throughout the room, snapping everyone back to their senses. Just in time to witness the deaths of their colleagues. The man shot out with his spear, blue light hitting agents and scientists, throwing them against walls and killing them. He threw small knives and spun; avoiding bullets and energy blasts. He pressed his staff against various chests; including Barton's and their eyes clouded red before returning to normal.

"Please don't". his voice was soft; calm. "I need that" he referred to the cube, safely contained in a small carry-on in the director's hands.

He spun round to face Ellie and continued "and I need that". Barton shot fury and collected the carry-on. Loki suddenly appeared next to the tense woman and pressed his staff against her yellow and black chest. Her whole glowing body rippled black, and then her eyes stayed it. Loki looked into their constant black depths and smirked "that's interesting"

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Banner was treating a cut leg, carefully pulling the stitches through when he felt it; fear and then nothing. Calmness. He began to shake; he knew something had to have happened to Ellie. But he shook off the feeling, he had a job to do. Worry and fear crept at him for the rest of the day though, no matter how often he ignored it.

He wrote a letter the moment he gets home, sends it off to her; to the mansion. Asking if she's ok.

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She walked out with Loki, mindlessly following.


	20. Chapter 20

An attractive redhead held a black phone between her chin and shoulder when Coulston broke the news "Barton and Winters have been compromised. We need you to come in". She dropped the phone; and quickly overtook the 3 men. They had tied her up so easily, she loved the look of surprise on people's faces when she showed her true ability. Men always underestimated her, and always paid the price.

She picked up her heels, sighing at the ladder in her tights; she had hoped these would last longer than one mission… the conversation continued as she picked up her phone.

"Where are they now?" she asked, thoughts on Barton  
"We don't know"  
"But he's…they're alive?"  
"We think so"  
"I'm coming in" she stated  
"First we need you to pick someone up…You get the big guy"  
"Coulston, you know Stark trusts me as far as he can throw me"  
"No, I get Stark. You get the big guy"  
"Bozhe moi"

Ellie didn't know where they were, or why they were there. Scientists milled around, collecting items and working with the tesseract. But not her. She was hovering in front of Loki, his delicate, long fingers dancing down her arms and face. "it is fascinating. The Midguard race is so feeble…so…small. And yet here you are, magnificent and shining. Why do you protect them, when your power could crush them in an instant?"

"They need protection, because they are no match for us" she answered, voice hollow.

"Well I think I should see how easily I can mould you my dear; your eyes have stayed black…clouded over by my hatred, or by your fear of me. Let us see if we can cause you to…pass that fear on"

"As you wish, my lord"

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Bruce followed the small panicked girl back to her home. She had interrupted him as he was finishing up with a patient; and he was worried. She claimed her father was like the others, coughing; but not waking up. It was at this stage that time was of the essence. He followed her through the streets, wondering how far she had run to get here, and feeling sorry for her. Her feet were bare and her dress was torn and dirty. The money she clamped in her hand was most likely their savings, he would have to reduce his rates, he couldn't take what they so obviously didn't have. He would need to check the girl over, she was a little too thin and he worried she may have contracted what her father had when she gave a small cough as she ran.

The house was small and run down, but empty. He ducked through the doorway, only covered by a scrap of fabric. The girl jumped out of the back window and he sighed; rubbing the beck of his neck "always get paid up front Banner…" he turned to leave when a figure stepped out of the shadows. She was attractive, and entirely out of place with her pale skin and red curls. He was worried.

"You know, for a man who's supposed to be avoiding stress, you picked one hell of a place to live"  
"you brought me to the edge of the city…smart" he dropped his bag and wrung his hands as he walked. "What have you brought me here for? I assume the place is surrounded…"  
"Just you and I"  
"And your actress buddy? Is she a spy too; do they start them that young?"  
"I did…"

He thought back to Ellie, her small 15 year old frame sticking up for her age, saying how normal it was…he had no idea how wise she was for her age.

"Who are you?"  
"Natasha Romanoff, and I'm here on behalf of shield" her voice was gentle, the kind a person uses when calming a loud dog, one they were afraid would snap at any moment.

"And what does shield want with me?" he had no intention of leaving; he had been incident free for over a year and was finally doing some good. He didn't want to be dragged into pointless battles.  
"This is the tesseract, it has been taken. We need you to track it; to find it. No-one knows Gamma radiation like you do" she showed him a photo of a glowing blue cube "if they did…that's where I'd be"  
"so he wants me for my brain…is there anything else he needs me for?" he asked, reffering to the hulk.

Natasha sighed, her smile faltering for a second. "Dr Banner, I believe you know Agent Winters"

He looked up in shock. "Agent? You mean Ellie? When did you wrap her up in this?" he slammed his fist against the table and she quickly pulled a gun from under the table, aiming it between his eyes.  
"I'm sorry…that was mean, but really? Why do you have her?"  
"We brought her in when we knew we'd be bringing you in…we know you two have an interesting…relationship. We thought you and everyone else would be more comfortable if you had a safeguard against turning into the Hulk. She was ecstatic to be working with you again doctor, sung your praises" said Natasha through clenched teeth, not entirely understanding why the bubbly, blonde mutant was so comfortable about this man, when all she felt was fear as those dark brown eyes flashed green.  
"what's she got to do with this, what's happened to her?" he hated that she'd been dragged in because of him; though a part of him wanted to laugh with happiness at the thought of her being so happy to be with him again. Maybe he still had a chance…  
"Our target, Loki Laufeyson took her at approximately a week ago, along with another agent and Dr Selvig; we need your help bringing him in and getting them back"  
his heart dropped. She had been taken; kidnapped for god knows what. He had to get her back.

"I'm in"


	21. Chapter 21

Dr Banner wandered the deck of the ship, feeling out of place. It was so bright, so open and so entirely surrounded by water; there was no place for the hulk to go if anything happened…so many lives could be lost. He controlled his breathing and thought to himself that he just had to find Ellie…just find her and bring her back and then he could leave, and follow her wherever she wanted to go; if she'd have him.

His head felt so weird without her presence. It wasn't until the last few years that he'd occasionally noticed feelings that weren't his own, and until he asked about it in a letter that she'd revealed their link. He cherished it after that, often focusing on her ghostly traces of emotion during his meditation; holding them close as if it were really her in his arms, as if they weren't hundreds of miles away but mere centimetres. He often couldn't believe that the kiss from all those years ago had happened, didnt know when he'd stopped thinking of her as a scrawny kid and more like a beautiful woman.

A voice called from behind him and he turned, hands nervously wringing towards it. It was Agent Romanoff, with a tall blonde man, who seemed oddly happy to see him. As he waked towards them he recognised the face, the almighty captain America. They shook hands and the captain happily said "good to meet you! I've heard you can find the cube"  
"Is that the only thing you've heard about me?"  
"Only thing I care about"

Bruce warmed to the man, his ease around him marginally made up for the discomfort he saw in Natasha's eyes. He hated that he frightened the woman, though it was for the best, she'd be on her toes in case something happened. She interrupted his train of thought "gentleman should we continue this conversation inside, it's going to get a little hard to breathe" a small smile on her face. Bruce blanched while Steve looked intrigued, asking "is this a submarine?"  
Bruce looked even more nervous "oh great…they're putting me in a pressured submerged metal can"

A loud whirring came from beneath them and they strolled to the edge of the carrier, watching as two large turbines came from their side through the water, and they slowly began to rise into the air. The captains eyebrow rose, but Bruce let out a laugh, "oh no" he chortled "this is much worse"

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They were in Germany, but of course none of the brainwashed agents knew that. They were getting close to something, the scientists working busily, day and night until they dropped and slept where they fell. Everything was in a haze, blurry and bright around the edges and all Ellie knew is that she had to please Loki. He was amazing, a true visionary and she wanted to please him so badly, to make him happy. Their future ruler should be happy, and she couldn't wait to see him upon a golden throne, his queen by his side and everybody around her in as blissful a state as she.

She was tired, but it didn't matter, she needed to master fear; and cast aside the weakness of a power based on joy. Her golden glow was fading to darkness, an inky purple hue that radiated power. And with every fading speck of gold her mission came closer to fruition, and her master became more pleased with her. She longed for the day in which she could aid in the subjugation of her race, the day they would cower before her and learn the joy of submission.

 

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After the strangeness of the bridge, with its large windows, bright lights and agents in tight spandex Bruce felt good to be in the lab. It was his area, his element where he could really shine and show his worth; something he hadn't been able to do in a long time. Monitors around him showed Gamma radiation levels, and with each blip he was closer to finding the tesseract, finding Loki and pummelling him for taking Ellie.

His Ellie…not Loki's

 

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They swanned through the marble room, champagne in hand and classical music in ear. Loki surmised by now S.H.I.E.L.D would find him, and had brought out his newest toy against them, her blonde hair and lightly tanned complexion matching the emerald of the skin tight dress perfectly. Her hand was light on his arm, and he couldn't wait to splatter that gentle skin and perfect dress with blood as she held down their target; before parading her to her old comrades as an enemy.

Lookouts dropped from their positions as the arrows flew from the shadows. Hawkeye was a man on a mission, and he loved the thrill of covert missions, the gentle thunk as his arrows found their targets, leaving a path of destruction in his wake. He held the holographic projector over the eye scanner, and waited for his master and Ellie to do their job. He needed an eyeball, and they would get him one. The man in question would manage with one eye; if a little traumatised. Clint didn't particularly care.

They screamed and ran into the street and Loki smiled, following them out, his ceremonial robe materialising onto his form as he sauntered outside. These people were so weak; he would rule them well…"kneel before me" he called, herding them into his presence like sheep. Sheep before their shepherd. They hesitated, and he nodded to the woman beside him, who's smile grew sadistic and her skin fuzzed, and began to melt into inky blackness. She rose over the crowd, hovering above her master and looked down upon the people. "kneel!" she shouted, pushing fear into their hearts, causing them to cower at Loki's feet. He looked up at her and nodded; she practically bristled with pride.

 

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Captain America dropped from the sky before an old man, just as a horned maniac was about to shoot him. He surmised this must be the one they were tracking, this…Loki. A fittingly strange name for such an obviously deranged man. There were copies of him around the crowd, and a hovering female form to his rear. She swooped down to the prone villain and was quickly smacked away as he rose. Her skin glowed with dark power, her long white hair caught in the wind, blown to her side. Her dress would be beautiful if not for the blood that was splattered above it. He hesitated…this couldn't be the missing dame. "You know" the captain stated "the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else…we ended up disagreeing"

"The soldier…the man out of time" Loki spoke with a humorous chuckle in his words.  
"I'm not the one who's out of time". Steve's words were calm, and behind him an aircraft lowered, and commanded him to stand down. The horned man cast off a shot that missed the aircraft, and all hell broke loose. The people fled, a shield was thrown and the battle began. With the staff Loki was able to cast the captain to the floor again and again, but was continuously pummelled with his foes fists. In the plane, Agent Romanoff struggled to get a lock on her target for another round of fire without hitting her friend and so desperately hung back, waiting for the opportunity to fire.

She looked up, eyebrow raised as music began blaring through the cockpit, and a familiar voice came through the intercom "agent Romanoff…you miss me?" causing her to groan. A red blur shot through the sky and sent a blast at Loki which had him on his knees. He materialised his formal clothes from before and held his hands up in surrender, signalling to his comrade to do the same. She held out her hands but didn't power down, remaining the glowing black form he had created. He would show her off to the world, use her as a tool to bring down S.H.I.E.L.D. it would be so simple, so easy.

And she was his key to everything


	22. Chapter 22

The storm raged around the plane, and Loki couldn't help but grimace.

"Scared of a little storm?" the captain asked, confused.  
"I'm not awfully fond of what follows…" he answered, unwillingly shifting in his seat. So Thor had found him, he knew it wouldn't be long before he attracted the attention of his oaf of a brother, ready to barrel in as usual and carry him back to his father.

NO.

Not his father, that one eyed liar could not be called his father; Odin was merely the man who stole him from his home and lied to him all his life.

That man never saw him as a son, never as the mighty Thor's equal.

The thump on the ceiling of the plane made him gulp, he knew what was to come. The others looked confused, and the armoured man placed on his helmet before opening the hangar doors, "I'm going to go see what's going on". Before he could act on his words the hulking form of Thor appeared, causing Loki to roll his eyes. He couldn't help but think that what he lacked in brain power he obviously gained in brawn; and knew he would attempt to take Loki away. Most likely stupidly and violently.

He was right. His brother strode forwards, pummelling his captor backwards and leaping from the craft, his brother in his grasp.

Just like that, their prisoner was gone and the group couldn't help but be bewildered as to the events that had occurred.

Then it clicked, it clicked who was still there, clasped into a seat having been left by the oblivious god. Ellie… while Iron Man quickly departed the plane, and against Natasha's best wishes the captain followed; Agent Romanoff sped the plane through the storm so she could safely put it in the care of the second pilot, and quickly crouched down so she was eye level with the possessed woman.  
"Ellie, Ellie can you hear me"  
Her voice was too calm when she responded "of course I can hear you"  
"no, I mean Ellie…Dawnguard. Listen to me, this isn't the real you, you're under Loki's control"  
"Loki has shown me the truth of humanity, you should join us"  
"Agent Winters, don't forget why you came here, for Bruce, think of him, don't you want to back with him?"

Fear started to swim through Natasha and she reared back, eyes wide.

"Feel my power agent, give in to it; let it wash over you" the calm voice stated. Agent Romanoff panicked, feeling herself break down, and quickly punched the woman in the face, whose head hit the back of the chair and the feelings that were gripping at the redhead stopped as suddenly as that hit. The blackness snapped back to reveal flesh, and a pair of frightened eyes met Natasha's. She only had time to let out a sob and a quiet "help me…" before the blackness started to creep back up again. She clawed at it, sharp nails biting at the skin as the Agents voice called out to her "fight it Ellie! You know you can, we need you. Resist it! Resist his power!" but it was too late, it fought its way up her face with wild tendrils, quickly taking over the frightened girls mind. The head dropped, golden hair hanging over her face. When she looked up she winked and cockily said "you didn't quite hit me hard enough Agent" before shooting up a force field of power around herself, sapping the emotional power from the agent herself, who screamed at the invasion into her mind and stumbled backwards, landing on the cold floor of the plane.

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"Where is the tesseract?" Thor stood above his brother, who lay on the ground beneath him. The irony of the positions didn't escape the younger of the two. He would always be beneath the mighty Thor.

"Oh I missed you too" the jest in his voice was evident

"Do I look to be in a gaming mood?"

"Oh you should thank me. With the bi-frost gone how much dark energy did your father have to muster to send you here? Your precious earth…"

He held his brother up by the scruff of his neck. "I thought you dead…"

"Did you mourn?"

"We all did…our father"

He was interrupted by the smaller, dark haired God. "Your. Your father. He did tell you my true parentage did he not?"  
"What does it matter my brother, we were raised together, played together…fought together; does it mean naught to you due to a mere…technicality"  
"It means all; as does the shadow I was forced to remain in. the shadow of your greatness dear…brother". He spat out the last word; as if it left a bad taste in his mouth

He continued before Thor could speak "you threw me into nothingness, an abyss! I! I who should be king!"  
"So you wage a war on a land under my protection?"  
Loki laughed. "protection; oh you're doing a marvellous job! I will rule them, show them what it is to be a real king!"  
"Do you think yourself above them?" the question was sincere  
Loki laughed. "Why yes, yes I do"  
"then you misunderstand what it means to rule a kingdom dear brother. Give up this idle plan; come home with me, repent…we can carry on as we were! Give me the tesseract"

The mirth on Loki's face was obvious "I don't have it. You need the tesseract to send me back. I sent it away…I know not where"

Thor raised his hammer, turning towards his brother with anger in his voice "you listen to me" but the words were never continued, as a red blur shot into his side. "I'm listening" replied Loki into thin air.

He looked upon as they fought; laughing at how easy it would be to pull them apart; to disrupt their so called 'team'. By the time they were finished the area of the forest was levelled, and curiously the man out of time had managed to survive and even deflect a hit from Thor's hammer. Just what metal was that shield made of…

A shock ran through him, a strange detachment; that he quickly realised was the loss of a servant, one he particularily needed at this moment in time. he closed his eyes, focusing his magic on the currently weak and conveniently frightened woman; and laughed at how she must feel, suddenly awakening strapped like a prisoner on a strange and unusual craft. He imagined her horror as flashes of her actions came to her, and could feel it occuring. He snapped his fingers and knew she was his once again.

He laughed; a low rumbling laugh that was as sinister as it was short, and smirked. His prized show pony wasn't getting away that easily, he wasn't finished with her yet.


	23. Chapter 23

The form of the woman before him was frightening. All he knew was a golden woman, a light in the darkness of his gamma induced mutation. And yet here she was, deformed before him in such a monstrous way that he wanted to rip the throat out of the god before him. He had only seen the pair briefly before they were placed in the cell build for him. They hadn't wanted them in the same cell but they had no idea what she was capable of; their files held nothing of this new form. They turned to him for answers but he didn't hold them.

This was the closest they'd been in years and all he wanted to do was hold her, pull her to him and keep her there but he couldn't, they kept telling him that this wasn't the woman he knew but they didn't understand. No matter what form she took, no matter what she had done she would always be in his heart.

But instead she merely moved past his window, staring straight ahead as she glided through the air while Loki looked in at him, a smirk on his face. Something wasn't right here.

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He was asleep in bed when she woke him. Unsure whether he was awake or asleep he lifted himself up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he placed his glasses on his nose. Her hair shone like spun gold in the early morning light and she looked ethereal, as if in soft focus before him. She stepped towards him, feet bare against the carpet, eyes focused on him. The scar on her leg only served to make her more beautiful. Her bare knee pressed into the duvet as she crawled onto the bed, straddling his shocked but happy form. The thin strap on her white top slid down her lightly tanned shoulder as she leaned towards him, and when her breath caught his face his senses heightened in anticipation. Her lips upon his were like wildfire, and he desperately pressed her against himself; this couldn't be a dream it was too real, too perfect. They separated, her lips slightly parted and her delicate hands against his chest. His eyes gently closed as those plump pink lips leant towards the curve of his ear. Her lips brushed against his ear and his breath quickened with longing, then caught in his throat when she whispered the words "how could I ever love a monster like you when I have a lord such as he?" He looked up at that perfect face, its features twisted into a sneer.

She walked away, and he scrambled out of the bed, not caring about his state of undress as he chased her out of the room, shocked tears cascading down his face. She vanished, dematerialising on the spot; and he realised she was merely an illusion sent to destroy his hope. He fell to his knees in the hallway, sobbing. He knew it was a trick and yet he could only hope it wasn't ingrained with truth.

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A pair of green eyes opened in their confined tube; a satisfied smile almost reaching them. His plan was so simple; executed perfectly as all his plans were; these mortals were so stupid to bring a creature such as he upon their ship; so easily manipulated that all it took was a little magic to bring him to his knees. He would chip away at that armour bit by bit until there was nothing any of them could do to save themselves from the volatile man. He was one step ahead, and always would be. He just had to ensure his captors believed the opposite; including the redheaded woman he knew was watching him, waiting for her chance to sneak up. Did she not realise his power? He saw all on this ship, could be anywhere and anyone he wished. He knew they were watching him; he knew they were arguing, only polite reservations keeping them from being at each other's throats; all they needed was that little push from the usually polite scientist, slowly unravelling after his midnight visit.

 

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"Spill Banner, what's the deal with you and the girl?" asked a voice as he was poked in the side by yet another sharp object. He turned towards the man who was rapidly becoming someone he could call a friend. He feigned innocence, not wanting to think about this morning, and the way his outburst has the possibility to be so…public.

"Don't be coy with me big man; you're closer than a friend to her"  
"I don't know what I am to her"  
"You're joking with me right?" tony asked, pushing his glasses down his face and looking over at them.  
"I'm confused Tony, what do you mean?"  
"I've read her file; I've talked to Agent Coulston"  
"What does Phil have to do with this?"  
"His first name is Agent, but that's not the point. This girl left her home; her team-just to come spend time with you"  
"I suppose…"  
"You're a grown man, I shouldn't have to tell you this, though I suppose I do have enough experience with women to teach most men a thing or two" Tony laughed, winking over at his friend.  
"Since…the other guy I haven't exactly had the most luck with women"  
"that was what, 7, 8 years ago? Your love life can't have been that slow. Wait. Oh you old devil. She's what, 20? 22? how long have you been working on this one?"  
"We were friends for many years! I wouldn't dream of...she was just a child...it's only recently that..."  
Bruce said nothing more, his silence speaking louder than words ever could. Stark let out a low whistle. "No wonder you have trouble strutting-you my friend, need to get laid"  
"I don't want to; and even if I did I cant. Moment my pulse starts going the other guy comes out to say hello…"  
"So what? Some women are into that"  
Banner gave him a look, and Stark laughed "fine, fine, but why miss dark and frightening; what's so special about her?"  
"She's not always been like that; that…monster did that to her"  
"we'll get her back. Come here, let's…let's bypass her facebook privacy and get you some nice pictures of her in a mini skirt shall we?" he waved his hand and replaced the live feed of the glass cage with a collection of her uni pictures, seeing his friends face crease with laughter at the often ridiculous and occasionally drunken images before him.

 

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"There's not many people who can creep up on me Miss Romanoff" he stated, turned away from the redhead

"But you figured I'd come" she knew she hadn't crept up on her; she was a spy, an excellent spy; and knew when she was being watched.  
"Why yes, I knew that after any tortures Fury could create you'd appear as a friend, a kind shoulder to lay my head upon and weep, overlooked by my creation"  
"Your creation?" Romanoff was confused, and horrified when Loki stroked his hand along the floating woman's face  
"Do you like it? Oh when she arrived she was so golden; so triumphantly…good. She's become my little pet haven't you my dear?"

The woman before Natasha was emotionless, simply stood floating as if a puppet; held up by invisible strings, causing her to shudder. She had met the woman briefly before, and remembered that happy countenance. She couldn't help but retort "what have you done to her?! You monster…"  
"I'm not the monster on this ship"  
"Banner…Banner is your play. No wonder you took Ellie…do you even care what you've done to her? Will she ever recover from…from this?"  
He looked shocked…how did she play him so easily. He was a god! A god! How did a mere mortal, a trembling mewling wench manage to sway him so easily, to pry information from him with no effort.

"Thank you…for your co-operation"


	24. Chapter 24

They argued, they argued and bickered like children, fighting over weaponry and on being considered a threat to the world around them. "Clean energy" was what Bruce and the others had been told, they had signed on to aid in that creation, not the forming of weapons of mass destruction. They felt conned; they weren't a team; but a mishmash of personalities and beliefs, thrown together by a lying spy who only manipulated them for his own gains. He was getting mad; this was what they wanted right? To see the hulk, to see his little parlour trick in its full force.

"Let go of the spear" a voice called. He looked up to see the Fury looking at him, worry on those chiselled features. When had he grabbed the implement? He looked down at his hand, confusion lining his face at the sight of the smooth silver surface in his grasp. He was so mad; so confused, shown to the group through his darting eyes and furrowed brow. His train of thought and his controlled breathing were interrupted by the beeping of a sensor; showing that the tesseract had been sourced. The distraction was welcome; the focus removing the twitching; screaming distraction of the hulk, coming into the forefront of his mind. "Sorry kids" he said; putting down the spear and walking towards the screens "you don't get to see my party trick"

The explosion shook them all, blasting through the centre of the room and throwing them backwards from its epicentre. Sirens blared around them; and the dip of the ship in the air let them know they'd lost at least one engine. Frantic shouts echoed through their earpieces as their suspicions were confirmed…engine 3 was out. Stark was quickly dispatched to deal with the problem; before it went from bad to worse and they fell from the sky.

"Romanoff?" asked Fury as the havoc progressed behind him

"Ok…We're ok right?" she answered the dismembered voice in her earpiece; looking over at Bruce in panic; attempting to pull her foot from beneath a large tube. She was nervous, chanting his name over and over in an effort to distract him; to pull his attention towards her and away from transforming; knowing little of how it worked and that at this point it was already too late. Bruce wanted to scream; to shout out and tell her to run but he couldn't, all he could do was endure the pain and fight it; a fruitless fight against something he couldn't control.

"Bruce, you gotta fight this…it's just what Loki wants" she was panicking now; her heart racing. Men began running towards them; but she quickly waved them away. They needed as calm an environment as possible. "we're gonna be ok Bruce; I swear on my life we are going to get out of this!"

She had never heard a man make the noises he was making. They were animal; not human. Grunts and growls of pain, of anger. Noises that reminded her of bears, the way they roar and grunt. It was surreal and terrifying. She yanked at her leg; pain shooting momentarily through her ankle but the adrenalin cancelled it out; she was free and could run. She darted; stumbling down the metal walkway in a most ungraceful manner, showing her fear and panic. This was unlike anything in her dossier, anything she had ever been trained for. His large fists swung around her, causing her to jump and roll and sprint away in such terror he could smell it, coming from her in waves.

They could feel it; the panic in the crew members of ship as their plan came to a head. Loki smiled, patting the face of his thrall "it's show time." He drew his hand across the glass door and it simply opened, bowing before his magic. The cameras were trained on his every move; it would only be a matter of time before someone came for him. He welcomed the challenge.

Thundering footsteps could be heard down the corridor, and he quickly materialised a copy of himself in the open doorway of the cage. As he expected; with a roar of disagreement Thor barrelled through the copy and into the cage itself. He had hoped that his dunce of a once-brother was still as gullible as ever.

"how many times are you going to fall for that trick!" he said with a laugh, turning to the console, watching the cage deployment lights flash as Thor smashed against the glass with his hammer. His fingers itched towards the console when a voice came from his right  
"step away please" it was an unusually calm voice, and he and his clone raised their hands ever so slightly. The calm voice of a smartly dressed agent continued "do you like it? We made it after you sent the destroyer…the destroyer that levelled an entire small town…even I don't know what this does." He flicked a switch on the side and the weapon powered up, plates separating to reveal a bright orange glow. He trained his sights on the green clothed man but needn't have; as Loki just teleported himself behind the man and pushed his spear into his back before he could shoot. As he crumpled to the floor; eyes wide in shock Loki turned back to the console, pushing the button to open the floor beneath the cage.

"The gods think us immortal brother…shall we test that?"

He pressed the button; and watched with mirth as the cage fell from the sky; taking his strongest link to his old, traitorous family with it. With technicality, if Thor died he'd rule once more…the thought made him smile, he would finally have everything, and everybody he wanted.

The coughing voice surprised him; why wasn't the puny mortal dead yet? "You won't manage it you know"  
this man…this man was on the floor, dying at his hand and yet he still had the gall to challenge him? The mighty Loki? He had to ponder "and why ever not?"

"You lack conviction" the weak voice replied.  
"I lack conviction? How can you say that when I command the conviction of all with only a gentle tap of my spear?"

He had had enough with the dying mortal, and went to turn to walk away, walk away towards freedom and the rule of this puny world. It would all be his…all of it.

Pain suddenly shot through him, and he flew backwards as a shot from the orange weapon hit him square in the chest and barrelled him through a wall and into the wall behind. His landing was soft however, and he shook his head at the bleeding, unconscious and powered down form of his favourite slave. He considered taking her back under his control but it was pointless; she was injured, and had served her purpose. He no longer needed her, and discarded her down like a broken toy.

He left. He was free and his mission complete; he and his minions were destroying the only thing that had a chance of coming against him.

The blackness had crept from her body, and she could feel the blood oozing from her head. She was in pain; and tired. So utterly exhausted she leaned her head back to sleep as the form of the green cloaked man from before left. He looked familiar but she only had flashes in her memory; enough to know she had been under his control, and that she had done terrible things to people's emotions…her head lolled forwards as exhaustion overtook her; and she slept in the crevice of the wall; allowing her mutation to seep into any cracked bones and heal them enough to walk away when she awoke.

She groaned as a young man helped her up, his chest sporting a large silver star and white and red stripes. She looked into his blue eyes "ma'am"  
"um, hello. Thank you for helping me up." She didn't feel old enough to be a ma'am…  
"Are you feeling ok?"  
"Yeah, everything's a bit fuzzy really" realisation dawned on her face as she remembered how much of Loki's plan involved Bruce, and how he had had her fill the team with anger…fill Bruce with anger… "Where's…where's Bruce?"  
"Banner? He's out there" he gestured to the window "but he's not himself at the minute; it's not safe to go following him, plus…you need to rest"  
"you're captain America" she stated, remembering his face from his file.  
"I am indeed ma'am"  
"stop calling me ma'am. And Captain…"  
"Yes Agent?"  
"I came here to do a job; I can rest when it's done"


	25. Chapter 25

They walked onto the ship, minds on their departed friend; the one who had brought them together as a team. This was their calling; they were the avengers. And they would avenge Coulston with all they had. The ship was small; and the lack of prevention from Fury had Hawkeye wondering if this was his plan all along. He looked over at the tall blonde strapped into the chair as he walked past and couldn't help but feel nervous; he had seen her abilities and wondered if her powers would ever be the same again; whether he could look at her without seeing the same fear-mongering mutant. The battle would tell; he had known her more as that…monster than as herself.

Ellie knew she had to defeat Loki; he had taken all that she had, all that she was and played with it as if it were naught but clay. He had twisted her into an unrecognisable creature and for that she shuddered. She never wanted to be that…thing again. She focused on the positives; on her forthcoming revenge and the avenging of her friend. The ship shuddered as it took off and she thought about the fight to come. Could she even power up? Would she glow as brightly as she once did or would she become a twisted creature of hatred; the one Loki brought forth. Would she have her own mind; trapped inside that new powerset, one of fear and loathing. She wanted to bring joy, not take it away.

She was frightened, but she knew she would have to fight. If she had to do it without her powers then so be it; she was prepared for the challenge. She had years of fighting training beneath her belt, multiple martial arts and plenty of gun training; it would have to do.

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Bruce rubbed his eyes as he awoke; rubble uncomfortably digging into his back from his fall. He was himself again; and was most definitely naked and tired. A man drew his attention with a cough from behind him "are you an alien?" he asked.

Bruce was confused, had this man seen him fall from the sky as the hulk and wasn't running in fear? "You saw that?"

"I did, you were big and green and butt ass naked"  
"Did I hurt anyone?"  
"Nah; only startled a few pigeons. So, are you an alien?"  
"Sorry no"  
"Then boy…you got a condition"

The old man looked so serious, and Bruce couldn't help but laugh. A pair of pants and a shirt was thrown down to him; and he looked up at the old man; touched by his compassion. "They should fit; I wasn't sure till you shrunk down and became all normal man sized but we can't have you leaving like that"

The clothes did fit, and he left on an abandoned bike a bit down the road; the rough grip biting into his bare feet as he rode. He'd bring it back-he always did if he could. He could feel her worry in his mind; the familiar mental touch of her made him unbelievably happy; it was like a warm comforting blanket on a cold winter's morning. So much had been taken from him since his accident; it wasn't often that it was returned.

As they flew into the city a beam of light hit the sky, and all hell broke loose as a large dark disk opened in the sky; releasing reams of aliens ready to take over this world with Loki as their leader. They shot at the creatures as they saw them; taking out as many as they could while in the ship.

"We're gonna have to land; can't take out as many cooped up in here" muttered Clint, looking for an available landing area. He saw one and paused, spotting stark tower in the distance "Might as well make it count" he said; face serious as he flew them towards starks glowing monstrosity.  
"Do you see him?" he asked his co pilot; her face hidden from view behind red hair.  
"I do"

They opened fire; the large mounted gun spinning as it rapidly spat bullets at the horned god. He turned to them; raising his spear and taking out a wing, causing them to spin out of control and skid to a landing on the ground.

A monstrocity flew towards them; spitting out soldiers as it flew. They fired but their efforts were fruitless, their arrows and bullets having no effect. "Stark are you seeing this?" Steve asked; staring at the creature as it flew away  
"Seeing; having a tricky time believing…has the Hulk arrived yet?"  
"Banner?"  
"Just keep me posted"

"look at this-look around you? Do you think this madness will end in your rule? Do you think this is what you need to do to impress her?" Thor shouted into his brothers face, forcing him to look upon the destruction of the city below them. Remorse flowed through Loki, he knew his brother was right. "there is nothing we can do…it is out of my hands" he said, voice soft and eyes downcast  
"We can…together" Thor stated; a determined smile on his face which quickly turned to shock as his younger sibling thrust a knife into his side. It burned as it sliced the flesh and Loki's words were crystal clear in his ears "but rule I shall; as she will beside me"

The fight lulled as they planned their movements; and they quietened as a motorcycle could be heard behind them. Bruce got off, and padded towards them on callused feet; a nervous smile on his face. They met him halfway  
"So this all seems horrible" he said, looking at each of them in turn, his eyes flitting between the group and the mess around them.

"I've seen worse" Natasha said gently, looking him in the eyes  
"Sorry" he said, feeling terrible to have frightened her in that way.  
"No…we could use a little worse"  
He smiled, a small laugh escaping his lips.

The captain activated his coms system, linking him up to Tony "we got him"  
"Banner?"  
"Yeah…just like you said"  
"tell him to suit up; I'm bringing the party to you"

He burst from behind a building; luring the large monstrosity from earlier towards them. "I don't see how that's a party" muttered Natasha; crouching into a fighting position, as did the others. Bruce simply walked through them, his hand lightly and affectionately brushing down Ellie's arm as he did so; and strode towards the creature.  
"Dr. Banner…now might be a really good time to get angry"  
"that's my secret…I'm always angry"

He shifted as he walked, clothes ripping from his body; until in the mans place was the large, green Hulk. It strode forwards; and punched the enormous creature in the front of its face, causing the plating to compact and it to fall the floor. Ellie couldn't help but sigh with happiness; she was finally here with him again, and he was just as magnificent as always. Natasha turned towards her; eyebrow raised "that makes you happy?"  
"He's amazing isn't he" she said, a large smile gracing her face. Natasha leaned towards Clint, whispering in his ear as they walked away from the scene "that is living proof that there's someone for everyone I guess" he smirked and they leapt into battle, each going into their respective groups.

"Power up!" shouted Natasha; screaming as the Chitauri came upon them.  
"I can't! I don't…I don't trust myself"  
"If you don't you'll be killed!"  
"If I do I could be that…monster again"  
"would you rather be dead as a scared little girl?! You'll be fine!"  
"I don't know if I can"

A chitauri raced towards her; and fatigue slowed her movements. She was unused to fighting without her powers; and she was exhausted. A beam shot from one of their weapons towards her friend who froze in shock. This was it, it was the end.

The beam was intercepted, hitting the back of a blackened form, causing it to fall forwards into a crouch over its comrade. It straightened up and turned towards the shocked foe; the blackness cracking, allowing small lines of golden light to shine through. It fell from Ellie like porcelain; disintegrating as it hit the ground until she was entirely gold.

She strode towards the chitauri; freezing it in place with fear, and punched it in the face. "get down Natasha" she called out, and jumped up, spinning in the air and sending out a blast of fear and exhaustion; causing the Chitauri around them to crash to the floor in sleep, as well as the citizens they were chasing. Natasha got up from where she was laying, and rested her hand on her friends shoulder  
"You ok Ellie?"

"Yeah…I guess I should thank Loki; I have more control over the darker side of my powers than I ever did before…"

"Come on, let's go have some fun"

Ellie grinned back and ran into action.

 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

She hovered beside the redhead as she helped hold the spear in place; and watched as iron man flew up to the portal. She had seen him on the news, and he disappeared as rapidly as he flew. Surely he couldn't survive up there. It was called and they both pushed, shoving the spear into the tesseract and closing the portal; sadness in their hearts at the death of their friend.

They were wrong, and he dropped. They watched him fall, waiting for him to power up and fly away; to gloat afterwards as he always did. But he didn't; he wasn't slowing and Ellie began to fly out to him.

The hulk beat him; grabbing him from the sky and putting him on the ground. She flew down to where they huddled; in time to see him roar in the unconscious man's face, waking him up. Iron man looked at his green friend, and then obviously spotted her gold glowing form floating just behind him. He pointed weakly, and they all turned, the hulk stepping forward. She floated at head height, and he pulled her towards him with one large hand; while she wrapped both around his. The gold flowed from her into him and he began to shrink. He collapsed onto the ground, his head resting on her warm, power filled body. "Ellie…"  
"Yeah Bruce?"  
"I missed you"  
"I missed you too"

She poured energy into her old friend; and he stopped looking as dead to the world. She powered down, slipping onto her knees herself in exhaustion. The two kneeled on the hard pavement; surrounded by debris, foreheads on shoulders. He lifted his head and she wearily copied him; before it fell forwards to rest against his.  
"I'm glad you're safe Ellie"  
"You came for me"  
"Of course I did; main reason I got involved with all this"  
She smiled and sighed "I'm so tired Bruce"  
"I'm sorry"  
"For what? Wasn't your fault"  
"For this"

He pressed his lips against hers, holding her head in his bruised, cut up hands. Her lips moved against him and he pulled back, looking nervous. She pressed a small one back against his and groaned as she passed out. She'd been through a lot. And so had he, to get her back. And how he had her; he was never letting go again.

**Author's Note:**

> Authors Note-
> 
> This is an Avengers story, I just wanted to start it a little differently, so i could explore the Hulk as a character before he became part of S.H.I.E.L.D. So I've gone off canon to bring in my OC, a member of the x-men.
> 
> It's got a couple time skips, so the ages in the early chapters are not indicative of the whole story. There will be no hulk romancing an underage girl.
> 
> Happy reading :)


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